Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Hello Again!

Hello, friends! I know I haven't been around the blogosphere much lately, due in large part to pure lack of motivation, but the blame for getting zero reading or blogging done last week belongs entirely to a certain lady named Irma.

If I had to sum up Hurricane Irma in a few words, I'd say, "scary AF!!!!!!!" This wasn't the first hurricane I'd experienced; around this time last year, Matthew dumped a ton of rain with strong winds. When I lived in New York, Hurricane Gloria hit back in the 80's, and we had plenty of nor'easters, a couple of blizzards, and one blackout. Irma, however, was set to wallop the whole state of Florida, and as the track kept shifting west, Central Florida braced itself for a direct hit.

With the utter devastation that Hurricane Harvey left behind in Texas fresh in everyone's mind, as soon as Irma started looking fairly serious, people here wasted no time beginning preparations. Melissa and I went out early in the week to try and stock up on bottled water, canned goods, batteries, etc., and stores were already chaotic. I hate going to home improvement stores in principle and only do so when absolutely necessary, and this was a case of absolutely necessary. And it was pure hell. We also filled up our cars with gas, and it was good we went when we did because long lines and empty pumps quickly became a common sight.

Forecasts saw us getting hit the hardest last Sunday night into Monday, and our county, like many others in Florida, put us under a curfew. I camped out at Melissa and Ally's house to hunker down with the rest of our family, and as I was packing up what was essentially a go bag, I realized a few things. One, I have entirely too much stuff. As I was looking around trying to quickly determine what I absolutely could not live without if, God forbid, I couldn't return to my own house, it dawned on me how many things were just lying around, taking up space. I told myself that some seriously de-cluttering was in order, if we survived. And let me tell you, with the way the wind roared through the night, I was truly afraid that we were all going to blow away.

I hope this doesn't sound laughably melodramtic, but it was a bit sobering to think that my entire life was briefly contained in a suitcase, or at least as much as I could fit into it. Extra clothes. Basic toiletries. Important documents. The governor emphatically stated in his news briefings that objects were replaceable, but people were not and to heed all safety warnings. I completely understand that an object is an object and nothing can ever take your memories from you, but I still couldn't help feeling torn over leaving things like family photos behind. I wrapped the albums in a plastic garbage bag and put the bag on a closet shelf, then hoped for the best. My anxiety went into overdrive, and I had visions of roofs tearing off and windows being blown out and water gushing in, submerging everything.

None of us really got any sleep as we listened to the wind howl all night. When daylight finally arrived, I was scared to peek out the window to see if my house was still standing. I was beyond relieved to see that it was, although it does need some repairs. A few houses down, a big tree had fallen; fortunately, it had landed in the street and not on the house. We were extremely lucky to have a generator; our neighborhood lost power for almost 24 hours while other areas were without power for days, and some are still without power.

Around where I live, things are slowly returning to normal. It might be a while before I can once again try to bust out of this horrible reading/blogging funk I'm in, but I'm very, very, very grateful that the damage here wasn't as bad as it could have been. I've missed blogging a lot and am going to try to at least blog hop occasionally. In the meantime, I hope all is well with all of you, and I'll get back to blogging—eventually! :D

8 comments:

  1. Wow, it is so scary to hear about these hurricanes. I'm glad that you are safe and that you were able to prepare. It's awful how much people have lost. I hope things will get back to normal with you soon. Thank you for your update!

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    1. We were watching the news tonight and saw homes still under water and without power. And now Hurricane Maria looks like it's about to hit Puerto Rico and the surrounding areas really hard. :( It's definitely been a bad year for natural disasters, and I hope we don't have any more for the rest of the year!

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  2. First of all, glad you are well. And your house too. Sounds like a terrifying experience, and I know many of us were watching with concern and hoping for the best for all of you down there. And you're right, I guess it's times like that that we really realize how much stuff we have, and how important to us some of it is.

    Anyway take care and hope you have a great rest of the week. :)

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    1. Thanks, Greg! :D This was hands-down the most scared I've ever been of Mother Nature, and I totally admit it! The experience was definitely an eye-opener in many ways, and I'm just so grateful that we didn't fare all that bad!

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  3. I'm happy you're safe and suffered minor damage compared to those who lost their homes. Events like this does put things in perspective and definitely shines a light on things that are important versus "stuff".

    I understand the attachment though, these are things that you worked hard for, built, invested time on so your sentiments are justified.

    *hugs*

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    1. Thanks, sis! ♥ I definitely have a fresh appreciation for things that I didn't give much thought to before, like electricity. We were very, very, very lucky to regain it so soon after Irma passed through. As for all my clutter, I've started working on it a bit and will be able to devote a lot more attention to it once things calm down a little more.

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  4. What a terrifying experience! I'm so glad to hear that you made it through with minor damage. I have family down on the Gulf Coast side of Florida so I was glued to my TV and hoping that the storm weakened significantly before it reached them. I think we'll all be glad to see the end of hurricane season this year!

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    1. I hope all is well with your family on the Gulf Coast! The end of hurricane season can't get here soon enough; here's hoping that any other hurricanes that develop just fizzle out at sea!

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