Yeah, not dollars, unfortunately.

But hey, I’m still proud of Houston for this:

City to plant 1 million trees

Hurricane Ike uprooted thousands of trees as it made its way across Houston more than three weeks ago. But now the city has a plan to replace those trees and plant many more in an effort to go greener, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.

Houston Mayor Bill White said the city would plant 1 million trees in the Houston area within the next five years.

This is I-45.

Photo by Eric Kayne: Houston Chronicle.

The Editor’s Top Photos also have some unbelievable shots of Galveston from yesterday. Check out #38. (I don’t know how often these are updated/changed, but it’s the guy holding onto the pole for dear life. You’ll know it when you see it.)

I’m anxious to talk to my parents and see how they fared through Ike (both our house and our office) but it’s too early to call them, seeing as they probably didn’t sleep too well last night.

Meanwhile, as I read news updates and look at pictures of the damage, I’m amazed by the lack of sympathy I see in the comments. People lambasting those who stayed behind. How can we criticize people when we don’t know the reasons or the circumstances behind their decisions? They assume stupidity and stubbornness, but maybe there’s cause for staying behind. Maybe a young couple lives alone and doesn’t speak English and doesn’t know the severity of the storm. Maybe a family has no way to transport their seven young children and four pets. Maybe an elderly man has to evacuate not only himself, but also a roomful of medical equipment that regulates his heart and kidneys at home so he doesn’t have to live the rest of his life in a hospital. Maybe a woman just built a new house that she not only believes can stand up to the storm, but also wants to ensure doesn’t get blown to bits because she spent her life savings on it. I don’t know. It could be anything. I’m not saying everyone has a good reason, but until I am asked to pick up and leave from my home, to find relatives or a hotel or anywhere to stay that’s hours away from where I grew up, to pack only the “essentials” and leave everything else (my photo albums, my piano, my books) behind, until then, I won’t judge those who stayed. I will only hope for their safety, and the safety of those professionals whose job it is to help the people of their community.

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What does bother me are the people who were saying, “Bring it Ike!” etc. Because, you know, we needed it to be worse than it already was.

How lovely. Since I still have a 713 area code, I just received the following message:

Free VZW Msg: Verizon Wireless offers the following tips for emergency preparednes: Store emergency phone numbers and other important contacts in your phone; charge phone batteries fully and have car charger for back-up power; use text messaging to help conserve battery life and free-up wireless networks for emergency agencies and operations.

Okay, that last bit was actually a good idea.

But seriously, this does NOT help me NOT think about Ike.