Gentle readers:

I’m pleased to report that I weathered Hurricane Rita with only minor inconvenience. The eye of the storm landed so far east of Houston that I didn’t even lose power. My biggest problem of the moment is the shortage of gasoline that will probably last for another day or two. So I am not making any unnecessary trips until then.

Once again, the people of Houston responded to a major challenge with patience, fortitude and generosity.

As you know from the news reports, approximately two and a half million local residents had to be evacuated. This led to horrific traffic jams on all the evacuation routes. Many people ran out of gas. Many were without water. Because the city was experiencing record-high temperatures – it was well into the 90s -- this might have produced a crisis. But Houstonians volunteered in droves to distribute water to stranded motorists.

You might think that caring for the refugees from Katrina would have strained the city’s philanthropic spirit, but it did not. Houston had plenty of heart left to meet this latest crisis.

Let’s hope that local and national leaders learn valuable lessons from both Katrina and Rita. Our next test may be another terrorist attack or an earthquake in San Francisco.