Hurricane Ian 2022

Talk of a hurricane heading our way started early. I broached the topic over the weekend, hoping to jump on top of things early instead of last minute. I don't know why I bother.

Tom: "I'm not worried."

Me: "I understand that. You're never worried. But don't you think we should at least be prepared? Do we have wood?"

Tom: "No. But get food if you want."

Darcy came for a couple of days since she had work in our area. She tried to get Tom on the bandwagon too. It went over as well as my attempt.

Every day brought more worse news. Schools closed. I purchased food provisions. The Tampa area was going to get hit. Tuesday morning Tom work me up on his way to work.

Tom: "You should pack up things and drive to Indiana."

Me: "WHAT? Drive to Indiana? Why are you telling me this the day before the hurricane? Drive? What about the dog? I tried to get you to deal with this over the weekend. I could've flown out of here!"

This went on and on with Darcy joining the fray. She got on him about his lack of attention until the last minute as always. 

Darcy: "You do this every time! Why would you tell her that now? Why not three days ago? We're stuck here now. And you need to board the house!"

Tom: "I can't do everything! I have to go to work."

He left. Darcy got up Madison and began telling us what to do before she headed off for her job.

Darcy: "Madison, call Lowe's and ask if they have wood. Mom, go down and see the neighbors and ask for their truck. I'm going to work. I'll come back when I'm done but I've got to get to my house and take care of things there too."

Lowe's had wood but it was going fast. Maddy and I walked down to the neighbors and asked if they could help. The wife volunteered her husband, told us to get the wood, text her, and she'd send him down.

We dressed and left for Lowe's. Darcy joined us when her job got cancelled. We were in line for sheets of wood that ran out to the people in front of us. We moved on to other sheets, but the Lowe's guy talked those people out of the heavier wood, and we got it. We loaded it, purchased it with other supplies, and went outside to wait for the neighbor. The Lowe's guys working outside were impressed three women were handling this job.

Them: "Are you going to put it up too?"

Madison: "We are."

Them: "Do you know how to do it?"

Madison: "We're going to YouTube it!"

They helped my neighbor load it into his truck, and his son came down and unloaded it at my house. Then, Maddy and I took a break. Darcy headed to her house to batten down the hatches there. After some food and coffee, we measured our windows. Everyone in the hood was boarding up. My neighbor across the street had just finished doing his, and he came over and offered his electric saw and his muscle. We took both. It took us the rest of the day to board six windows. The three of us were pooped at the end.

Me: "And FYI, you did not help us when this story is related to Tom."

Neighbor: "Got it!"

When Tom came home, he was quite impressed. H wanted to know how we got the boards transported from Lowe's to our house. We told him on the roof of my car. He wanted to know how we got the boards up. We told him YouTube. Eventually, we told the truth. He was still impressed.

Darcy and her roommate got their apartment taken care of and got their food. We all sat down to wait for the storm to blow apart our lives.

It turned.

Thank you, Ian. We spent the day with our front door open watching the storm. It poured. We had a lot of wind. Usually, we lose power, and this time we didn't even lose that. We did lose Internet. My neighbors across the street lost power. Ian trimmed our oak tree, but that was it.

Not so for the neighbors south of us where Ian came ashore and hit. I belong to a writer's group there, and most everyone there lost a house or a vehicle or power or water. It was horrible. We felt guilty for escaping yet again.

We gave the neighbors our generator when theirs failed to work, and then had them over for dinner the next night, so we were able to give back to them. While we ate, their power came back on. 

I later heard this story about an Indian tribe in our area. They burial grounds are along the water from north to south in our county, and they blessed this sacred space, thus saving the area from storms. I like it. I'll take it.

But it is good to know if I had to do it again, I could manage--with my neighbor's help. We had them over for dinner the next night since they had no power. 

Maddy: "Because we can't do everything!"

Yep, that's our new slogan until at least the end of the year.