What a nice surprise to hear from you, Pam! For the Butterfly Forum people, I posted on the Tree Forum a lot this past winter, and Pam, AlabamaTreeHugger, and several others of us had our little clique - we had to have it to protect ourselves from the many jerks on that forum! I'll probably post some again this winter, Pam, but not as much, since my tree situation is slowly but surely taking care of itself. And thanks again to all of you! This hurricane was hardly bad enough in my part of south MS to even be called a hurricane - unfortunately, I hear there's some damage on the coast. My hubby talked with some people here while we were in Alabama, and they said everything was fine here, so we came on back this afternoon. Just as we pulled up to our road, we saw two power trucks on the corner, working on the equipment there. DH had left the outside lights on, so when we pulled up, we could tell if we had power - when we drove in the driveway, we noticed that the lights were off, but just at the moment he turned the engine off, the lights came on! Apparently, the power hadn't been off too long, because the ice cream in the freezer was just beginning to get soft. Not long before we left AL to come back, I had noticed a tornado warning on TV with the cone of the projected path of the tornado arising close to this area, which worried me considerably - hundreds of tornadoes were embedded in Katrina, and they say that most of the pine trees that snapped in half were broken off by tornadoes, and I believe it, because they all topped off at about the same height. Our neighbor just came over and told us that the majority of the storm wasn't bad here, but that a tornado came right over our houses today and kicked up quite a stir, but didn't touch down - whew! It must have been that one I saw on TV, which I think was seen by radar. All the damage I can see so far is small limbs and such, nothing big, but I haven't looked over all the property yet. I'd not be surprised at all if some more of the Katrina snags are down now - at least none fell around the house. From what I'm hearing on TV right now, the coastal counties did get some damage of significance, though, of course not even a tiny fraction as much as Katrina caused. I feel so sorry for peple there! I hope you and your sons are okay tdr4! One giant swallowtail emerged this morning - I'll release it tomorrow. Everything else with my cats is okay as far as I can tell. Sherry P.S. I baked a turkey breast before the hurricane, so that in case we had to evacuate, I'd have something good to make sandwiches out of. When I pulled it off the bone, I kept the wish bone (or "pulley bone" as we call it) for luck - I'm not really superstitious, but I figured it couldn't hurt. Hmmmm......the tornado didn't touch down, the lights came on at the moment we arrived...... hmmmmmm......:)

I just want to add my 2 cents worth on what a great time I had. The opportunity of getting to meet some of the Citrus forum regulars was just a special treat for me! The seafood supper at Gilligans with 20 comfirmed " citruholics" was the highlight of the Expo. Special thanks to Patty, Joe and Bob for flying in for the event. I hope it was at least half as good an event as you expected. Things went very smoothly and the weather couldnt have been better! Its a good thing the Expo wasnt scheduled for today.. Its a washout with this being the first heavy rain we've seen in a long, long time. Scott and Cactus, It was great meeting you guys as well. Hope to see all of you next year in Virginia Beach. There is a guy up there with a great citrus collection, growing in ground.... some of the trees are probably 20 footers. I hope the planning committee puts his place on the agenda for a walking tour! Thanks again to all of you, it wouldnt have been the same without you.

Marilyn, you will have to come to a Plant Swap one day and meet all us ne'er-do-wells soon! (You can tell who we are by asking us if we do well. We'll tell you, "Ne'er!") As for YOU, Felix...regarding that poor unfortunate sweet little grey-haired lady above...I know this is a touchy subject for you, an' all...but...all things considered...I think I'd rather SAY it than SEE it, if you get my drift!! (Just funnin' you, my friend!) And with that, I'd better say goodnight, before I REALLY get into trouble! Marcia

I am hoooome! I am hoooome! I don't have any damage. I don't have any damage! *just imaging me dancing around in circles* The yard is a mess with LOTS of branches, but we are all ok and it looks like our neighbors are ok. Wow, I saw Lake Charles on the news and it looked like we were swung around a bit. The lake had white caps and all. Still it was nothing like Rita. I'm not even unpacking...just waiting to see what Ike is gonna do. ~sigh~