I‘ll note once again that I and my family are safe, none of us having lost lives or property this go-round, for which we are all grateful. I’ll add, again, that I’m not asking for anything for me or mine; we’re not in need, at least not more than we were before the rains that fell on the Texas Hill Country this week and called to mind the fatal flooding of July 2025. I’ll note, too, that–although the people of Ingram, Kerrville, Center Point, and Comfort will have yet more rebuilding to do, as will no few along the Llano River, and that people in and around Fredericksburg, Stonewall, and Johnson City will be joining them–there has been much, much less loss this year than last. That is no solace to those who have lost, I know, and I do not begrudge or belittle them their grief at what they must suffer, now and moving forward. But it remains the case, and there is some relief to be found for the rest of us that it was not worse than it was.

I’m told by family in Kerrville that, once again, the statue of Lupe the Guadalupe Bass that was placed in Louise Hays Park, sitting in the expected floodplain of the Guadalupe River, has come through the flooding dirtied but undamaged. A mosaic depiction of the state fish of Texas, Lupe incorporates pieces sourced from the community; the statue can be taken as representative of the community, therefore. There is something to be said for its endurance in successive years of catastrophic flooding (in addition to the regular flooding that is, honestly, to be expected along most any river). There is a simile or a metonymy or a synecdoche to be pointed out and celebrated; even as the details of the surroundings change, the town and its people remain in place, and if they have to rebuild again (and again), they have some foundation from which to build anew.

I’m not aware at this point of any focuses for giving. I imagine, however, that the Community Foundation of the Hill Country will have something up soon; those wanting to help should probably get in touch with them.