Friday, October 12, 2018

When Reality Begins To Set In

Got up this morning and went outside to find that it was cool. Cooler than in the house. Delightfully cool. Cool like fall should feel. And clear? Oh my. No clouds in sight.
It's as if nature was saying I can be cruel but oh, I can be kind. 

Mr. Moon had shuttled four cars from outside to an indoor parking situation before the storm and he wanted me to help him shuttle them back and I sighed and gave up my plan of wearing my beautiful nightgown and a little sweater for a few hours, drifting about like a colorful butterfly and enjoying sipping the nectars of coffee and delicious air. And so I made my first venture out since before the storm and although there were trees which were down and tree litter and branches piled beside the roads, nothing looked too bad. The stop lights were working for the most part and there were even a few gas stations open although the local public radio station was broadcasting about the dearth of gas available. Some people were out, some businesses open. Supposedly a good many people are still without electricity and will be for some time. None of my children have theirs back on yet and Mr. Moon has taken our generator over to Lily's so that they can keep their food cold, at least, and he is bringing back three children to spend the night.

After the car shuttling we all met up at El Patron which was most decidedly open and Hank had invited a grand group of people so there were possibly twenty of us enjoying the porch in the cooler weather.




I didn't get a good picture of Magnolia but I am sure tonight will provide me with plenty of opportunity. 

I went by Publix after lunch and got grandchildren food. Pizzas, mainly. I should probably feel guilty but do not. I think that all of us have reached a point where the stress of the past few weeks has finally come home to roost, the adrenalin has drained, the reality of things has set in and although we are all quite aware of how incredibly lucky we are, it has been a strain and for those without power, still a bit of a pain. 
I ran into an old friend in Publix and asked her how they'd done in the storm and how they were now.
"Fine," she said, "And miserable."
At least everyone in Tallahassee and the surrounding areas have stories to tell now. The trees down, the cars almost hit, whether or not they have a generator and if so, where they've gotten propane or gas to run it. And we all end with expressing thanks for how it could have been so much worse and we've all seen footage and pictures of the coast just a few miles away and shuddered at the destruction and the power and the loss of property and even of life. 
We eat our lunches, we buy our bananas and our ice and our produce and our bread and our cheese and our beer. We wait for schools and businesses to open. We find places to charge our phones and get coffee. We count our blessings, we wish with all of our hearts we could just go back to normal with electricity and internet. We see people we know and we tell our stories and we listen to theirs and we hug each other and we say, "I love you."

I love you. 

Ms. Moon

13 comments:

  1. yep. post hurricane socializing. even a year later here you find yourself occasionally trading stories.

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  2. Love you too. We still tell Andrew stories, 26 years later.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  3. you'll be busy with the grands tonight but I know you will be savoring your electricity, family.......and appreciating every moment. Tragedy and devastation does bring perspective. My heart goes out to the many people who have lost everything. So glad you were blessed with minor problems only
    Susan M

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  4. August obviously loves his dress! So cute.

    Glad your world is righting itself.

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  5. I hope you get a butterfly day real soon.
    Loving you and all of your folks.

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  6. Love to you and all of your family and the animals, too.

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  7. So glad everyone made it through in one piece! Love to you.

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  8. I'm so glad everyone's ok. I kind of closed my eyes to this one and decreed 'THEY WILL BE FINE'. And thankfully, it is so.

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  9. So happy that you and your brood survived Michael but your post hints at the emotional toll that follows hurricanes. I saw pictures of one of my favourite places on Earth - Apalachicola - and it was so sad to see the flooding the town experienced. The misery is not over there.

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  10. Owen is becoming a young man. He’s on that cusp. Handsome boy.

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  11. Well, I'm glad people are getting out and about and El Patron is getting some business. You could have worn your nightgown to move cars, I suppose...? The destruction along the coast is incredible, but it's interesting how one hurricane can be so different from the next. This one, while destructive in terms of wind speed, was at least fast-moving.

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