Hurricane Entry #1

Just to give you an idea where in FL I am...On a map, find the halfway point of Lake Okeechobee and draw a line over to the Atlantic. That's the general area!

Monday 10/24/05

I woke up around 6:00am and turned on the TV to hear all about Wilma hitting the west coast of Florida and how long it would be until she would reach us. As we were completely shuttered, we couldn't see anything for ourselves. Just about 9:00 the power went out. Not to be deterred, I did some writing by candlelight. We had the radio on for a bit and heard that the worst was to the south of us in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Out by Lake Okeechobee got hit bad as well with gusts of over 100MPH . Not wanting to hear about that anymore, we put on some tapes and played pinochle by a battery-operated lantern.

We were naughty and went out during the eye to explore. Our neighbors on either side lost their pool enclosures. One of them had a tree snap in half and the top landed between our houses, the top facing the road.

We played more cards and the second half of the storm passed by 3:00. The first thing I noticed when we opened the door was that tree-top had flipped so it was facing the other way! Our pool enclosure buckled in the middle; one metal beam looked like it had been twisted. It's still standing though.

Dinner was spaghetti cooked outside on the gas grill with the sauce warmed in a fondue pot. Again, more cards and then I wrote by the light of the lantern till 11:00.

Anyone know what happened on "Prison Break"?

Hurricane Journal #2

Got up this morning about 6:30 to 50° and prepared for work--just in case. I went to call before i left so I wouldn'e be wasting my time and whaddya know? No phone. The cellphone didn't want to work either. I tried on and off for an hour or so before saying the hell with it. I was not about to drive for 30 minutes on roads with no traffic signals to a store that might not even be open. Instead I got to rake leaves, trim trees, dig up stumps, and lift plants. Saving grace is that it's only somewhere in the 70s and it feels great with all the windows open. Last year with Jeanne it was so humid and awful.

The phones came back around 2:00 and I tried to call work and kept getting a busy signal. Tomorrow is a scheduled day off but I might drive by and offer my services since I've already lost two days.

Tonight's menu is steak, rice, (made in the fondue pot) and stringbeans with almonds (boiled on the grill).

The next grid over which is basically just down he road got their power back this afternoon so hopefully we'll get ours tonight or tomorrow AM.

I forgot to mention that in the midst of all thisI'm packing for a trip north on Friday. ANother reason to want power back so I can have some clean clothes!

6:10 -- Power!

6:50 -- I lied, it went out again!

Hurricane Journal #3

OK, this won't be as long as the others.

As you can see, we got the power back this morning. I ended up going to work after all and was there from 9 till almost 6. It was madness after the hurricane.

Driving there I saw a large number of uprooted trees and some store signs blown out . Then there were the gas lines. They reminded me of when I was a kid in the 70s.

Things seem to be back to normal now so I'll keep you updated to any follow-ups!