Image Up Advertising & Design

24 FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | FEBRUARY 2023 Homeward Bound: Most of you are familiar with all of the time, effort, and energy it takes to evacuate your home. Today I will talk a little about the importance of making plans to return home. Just because the authorities have told you that you can return home does not necessarily mean that it is safe to do so. You may suffer damage to your home and possibly a loss of utilities. This may also include the loss or damage to heirlooms, pictures, or souvenirs. I will briefly discuss some of these things and what you can do to alleviate the stress of dealing with them. Remember that just because you're allowed back home does not mean your home is habitable. Your doors, windows, and roof must be checked for damage. Unaligned doors are a security concern, broken windows will allow cold in, and roof damage is a concern for water damage. All of this may create financial concerns. Will the payment be made by your insurance, a claim to FEMA or some other relief agency? Planning for this ahead of time may alleviate a lot of stress. When the first responders leave, you may be cleared to return to your home. You must remember to not only check for physical damage to your home but also for possible damage to your utilities. You might want to turn them all off until they can be checked by the water, gas, and electric companies. I am not sure if I agree with this completely. In a perfect world they would be checked and cleared within days. I believe that it may take weeks for you to get them out to your house. You can see that a safety issue quickly becomes a financial one. Shelter and utilities give us security, but what about things that comfort us? Furniture handed down to us, photographs, and pieces of art make us feel at home. If any of these things are lost or damaged you may begin to feel mentally or emotionally stressed. These things must be protected and secured. Pictures of photographs and artwork may be backed up and saved on a zip drive. A little thought and planning may save a lot of pain and anguish later. We meet on the third Tuesday of the month at 10 am in the RCN Conference Room. Our next meeting is Feb. 21. ~ Michael A. Mendoza, srmendoza@verizon.net Emergency Preparedness Committee Welcome 2023! Because of the wonderful rainy weather Beaumont has been receiving, we must take special precautions to protect the decomposed granite (DG) in the Canine Corral. Should you go to the Corral after a rainy day and find the gate locked, it is because the DG needs time to dry out. This could be anywhere from two days to a week, depending on how sunny it becomes once the rain ends. When dogs are running around the wet surface, or you are walking on it, deep impressions in the DG are created which may require repair work. The wet, soggy DG can also be harmful to your dog's paws. We love the rain as it helps with the drought, but there is a downside and we thank you for understanding. Plans are in the making for another Yappy Hour at the Corral sometime in the spring so we can let our registered dogs be part of the fun as well. Stay tuned for further information regarding this event. If you have not already done so, and you and your dog(s) are currently members of the Canine Corral, please consider joining our Canine Corral Facebook Group, Four Seasons Canine Corral (https:// www.facebook.com/groups/638146317048512), to share pictures of your dogs in the Corral or to set up play dates. We currently have three days on which groups are meeting at the Corral: Saturdays at 9 am, Sundays at 9 am, and Wednesdays at 3 pm. Please join us on one of those days or set up alternative play dates with other members. We currently have a roster which contains emails and phone contact information for each member of the Corral. We would like each member to have this information to be able to set up play dates with each other. However, if you do not want your information shared with other members, please contact Mykal Thuney at our management office as soon as possible so we can remove your information before it is provided to all members. Mykal's email is mykal.thuney@fsresidential.com or go to the office in RCN to speak with him. We are currently looking for new members to join the Canine Corral Council. We meet the first Thursday of each month at 10 am in the RCN Conference Room. No previous experience is necessary. ~ Barbara Morton, barb93720@yahoo.com Canine Corral Council

• Cover