Riding Out The Storm

With Category 5 Hurricane Irma barreling down on the state of Florida with her 185 mile per hour winds, I still remain optimistic. We live in the Florida Panhandle and expect something like this every year. So unless Irma takes a swerve to the left after making her way across the southern tip of Florida, landing in the Gulf, and then deadheading toward the panhandle, we will probably stay put. 

Yeah, I know. We’re crazy. But we are prepared. H has been watching this storm for a couple of weeks now. We have our first aid kit, cash, water, canned goods, batteries, charcoal, etc. My favorite chips and H’s favorite cookies are waiting patiently on the shelf. Both the car and the truck are full of gas. And books. I have books! The most essential item in the wake of a storm. 

Right now we have beautiful weather. Beach weather. Cool mornings and nights, and tolerable days. We realize that could take a turn for the worse in a few days. 

Andrew has called frequently, while keeping an eye on the weather channel. He’s worried we may be in for it. My siblings are expecting the worst for us. My daughters have urged us to get on the road before we get caught in the traffic. Friends have voiced their concerns. I’m thankful for people who care, but really, I think we’ll be ok. I don’t relish the idea of being in the car on an evacuation route, inching our way, bumper to bumper, for hours on end, my eyes craned for an open gas station to fill up, and a place to eat a bite. You can just call us those crazy Florida people. 

Jessie is expecting her 4th baby any day now – my 12th grandchild and 4th grandson. Living in Atlanta, they may get more of the storm than we will from the looks of the projected path today. I know – that scenario could change at any time. I told her to make sure she had everything she needed just in case Davey had to deliver Baby Pierson! 

If we did have to get on the road I have no idea where we would go. States north and west of us are also keeping a watchful eye on Irma. It seems unless we hop a plane to New York there’s no place safe. If Irma takes a swing toward us, Louisiana could also be in the path so that option of staying with family there would be out. Last night,  I luckily was able to secure the last room left at the Red Roof Inn in Augusta, GA for Andrew. People evacuating from South Florida are hurriedly headed in that direction. He has an audition for the principal timpani spot in the Augusta Symphony Orchester on Tuesday and has to check in at eight am. It’s a four hour trip from Lee University in Tennessee so a hotel room for the night before was the plan. I almost waited too long. 

We’ve already been practicing emergency living by spending this week living out of an ice chest because the fridge bit the dust last Friday. My new state-of-the-art-counter-depth fridge is scheduled for delivery on Saturday – in the middle of all this hurricane chaos. That may be put on hold. 

I spent 10 days last month without a clothes dryer and when the part finally arrived it took H twenty minutes to get it up and running again. 

As per my last post, we just spent twenty-eight hours without Internet. Now it’s out again for a few hours while the cable guys string a new cable. Apparently, yesterday’s “fix” was just that – “a fix“.

Hoping this is not an omen, as of now we have no plans to evacuate – unless…

~Elle