Another Hurricane

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 We survived Helene.  That one just brushed us with tropical winds.  We’re in an alert status right now, but we have evacuation plans if necessary.  We are about 150 miles from the Tampa Bay Area and that means high surf warnings here and preparations to evacuate if necessary.  We get constant weather updates and I get text messages from the city on my phone.  We’ll finalize our preparations later on today.  But my thoughts turn to those debated by Helene.  

The thing of it is is that while I can’t go into the area to help, I have my thoughts and prayers.  These things have happened long before humans settled into these areas.  And as devastating as these storms are, people always manage to put their lives together before it happens again.   I could be a philosopher this morning and ask why these things happen, but civilization just makes any natural phenomenon just that much more catastrophic.

But in the case of a hurricane, we can choose to just ride it out and hope for the best or evacuate.  We have our plans in place.  As of today we have chosen the former.  Unless the hurricane tells us otherwise we’re staying put as of this morning.  Currently we are at the southern end of the storm.  But we will be tracking it all day today.  As of my writing this the storm is headed towards Tampa.

We discussed whether we should evacuate, but have decided to stay put.  The storm shutters are down and the house is on a higher elevation.  At eight feet above sea level for Florida that is quite a bit.  I really hoped we would decide to stay put.  This morning it is almost perfectly calm.  But as they say, it’s the calm before the storm.  We will finish our preparations today and I’ll smoke my pipe and remain as relaxed as possible.  

Hurricane Ian was headed for Tampa too and took a hard right and put us right in its path.  We won’t know more until tonight or even tomorrow.  But we prepared the house yesterday and today we just wait and pay close attention to the weather.  This house survived Ian with roof damage and the lanai, but it has served its owners well over the years.  This morning I am just waiting and will smoke my pipe and just relax.  My pipe this morning is my Peterson Irish Harp pipe.  My tobacco choice is the last of my Old Professor.  I am drinking the last of my BKG coffee and will simply wait for the storm to arrive.  Thank you for your time and Peace to each one of you.

Dave


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