Irma is gone, and I am glad of it. Thing is she came in, destroyed as she entered and then again as she left, and then went north to wreck havoc some more. She was not a welcomed guest. Down here in Florida we love our sunshine, our warm days, our friends and family to visit, and our trips to the water to watch for dolphins, sharks, sandcrabs, and then to gather shells the tides bring in. We understand that it is going to rain, mostly every day for 5, 10 or 15 minutes when that dark cloud passes by. We appreciate that rain, that is how we are so green down here in Florida. And we can take wind sometimes, but not like Irma. No, no, Irma was not welcomed.
But I did learn a lot about Irma. I learned that I am exactly where I should be. I moved here because of location and the safety factor. Irma gave me one more reason to know I am safe right here. When I first moved I thought maybe I did not make the correct choice, maybe I should be living closer to the water. Nope. I am good. I am only 40 minutes to the sand, 20 minutes to the bay to watch those spectacular sunsets, or to catch a ray on the bay’s beach area. Twenty minutes puts me out of an evacuation zone, puts me out of a flood zone.
Oh, I believe I had an entire team praying for me last night and for Irma to lessen in strength. The prayers worked, and I thank everyone. Everyone. By the time Irma worked her way up the state of Florida, I watched and prayed and hoped she would change from her Category 3 hurricane. She did. She was a Cat 1 by the time she got my way. Not only that, after a bottle of wine and a dozen chocolate chip cookies, she veered to the East and missed that I-75 exit she was suppose to make. She was heading straight toward me before she slanted to the East.
I was prepared, though. I moved everything inside, boarded my window (remember with cardboard and duct tape), secured my thresholds of each door (they said the bugs would come in), and filled my freezer with ice and my frig with water. I cooked some food in case I was out of electricity. I put everything I would have needed for 12 hours in my master bathroom (my safe room) including a chair and ottoman to sleep on. I was ready.
What really happened was different. I never lost electricity ( I learned that our electrical cables are buried underground) and I watched Irma as she headed toward me, but I did take a break from Irma and watched Aunti Mame because my nerves couldn’t watch Irma every second, not even with the wine and cookies. I never heard the sounds of a train coming through my house (that is what I was told Irma would sound like), and on her tail, I turned off the tv and went to bed instead of sleeping in the chair.
You don’t have to tell me that I am one lucky girl. I know.
So, this morning I looked out the window and it was windy. Too windy to clean up the yard. I walked outside, and I could tell the palm trees took a beating last night, but in actuality, the street did not look that bad.
Then I took a good look at my beautiful plant that surrounds the light pole.
Kinda sad.
But tomorrow, when the sun shines bright it will be back to where it was.
Or bigger and better. That’s what we will do here in Florida. Be back, bigger and better than ever.
So long Irma. You are not welcomed back …