Saturday, September 28, 2024

The Good, The Bad, And The Unbelievably Catastrophic


Let's start out with the good news, shall we?

There was a belated and early birthday celebration for Owen, Lily, Vergil, and August. We met up at a Mexican restaurant in Tallahassee with an outdoor eating area and since the weather is quite tolerable right now, as to heat and humidity, it was pleasant. This is not the greatest picture in the world but it's hard to get us all in there. Jessie took the picture so I took one of her later when she was doing a little dancing to the Muzak and Lily posed too. 


Gibson appears to be himself. 

Here's Owen pretend-blowing out the candles on his birthday cookie. 




How handsome is that kid? 
And here's a shot of all the cousins.


We had a very good time but you may notice that Vergil is not in any of the pictures. This is because his world has just been shaken to its core by the damage Hurricane Helene has done to western North Carolina, specifically Black Mountain where his family lives and has lived for many, many years. Vergil and Jessie have land there and are in the process of building their own house. 
Were in the process. 
All of western NC has been hit very, very hard. Unbelievable flooding. Check out some of the footage that's coming out of there. It's nothing short of catastrophic. Entire sides of mountains are sliding down, taking everything down with them. This is the sort of natural disaster that Vergil figured could never happen on the mountain. The kind that might happen in Florida, sure. You see videos of houses in Florida floating down the street all the time. But Asheville? Many of the roads in western NC have been washed out, making access impossible. Also, keeping people trapped and stranded where they are. Some of the little towns that we drive through on our way to our annual visits to North Carolina to hang out with Jessie and Vergil and the kids are simply destroyed. Here's a drone video of one of those little towns. This one is called Chimney Rock. 
I think of the beautiful house that we've stayed in for two summers that sits beside a bucolic, chuckling little creek that the boys like to play in and that we like to sit in to cool off. I am so afraid that the creek rose and took that house as well as the house the landlady lives in across the creek. I have texted her but gotten no answer. 
Vergil was finally able to talk to his family today. They could get a signal from the second floor of his mother's house. You know that Vergil is desperate to get up there to help and has gone completely into problem solving mode, figuring out different connections to help his family from here, different routes that he might take to successfully get there. Everyone in the family is okay but according to them, the mountain will never be the same again. I can't even imagine what that means. 

And here's a crazy thing- Vergil and Jessie were going to go to Black Mountain on Thursday for Vergil's birthday. That was their plan before the hurricane but things just got so crazy here with the coming storm and they ended up staying and I wished so desperately that they had been able to leave, to get out of harm's way. 
And if they had? 
I do not think I could have borne the fear I would have held for them, even though I know that Jessie and Vergil and his family are all very strong, incredibly resourceful, and genius-smart. And I know that's how Vergil feels and my heart breaks for him. 

**********************

Lloyd is still without power but our generator chugs on. It did shut down when we were in town but Glen thinks he has it figured out and it's running now. That man. He continues to amaze and delight me. 

Remember this from a few days ago? 


I got a FB message from John this morning. John is the one in the striped T-shirt who was our neighbor. We have reconnected via a FB group about Sebastian and Roseland. The message was so very sad. He told me that Mark, the tall kid there beside him, has died. Of all the children in this picture, Mark was the one I knew best because he was our preacher's son and also the son of my favorite ever in the world teacher and she and my mother were friends. Also, Mark lived in this area for many, many years and I would occasionally see him at the library where we would stop and talk and hug. He was the most gentle man. John said that according to Mark's brother, the cause of death was not identified which I find very strange. He has been cremated and his ashes will be scattered into the Sebastian River which would be a fine place to scatter mine too. I sort of can't believe he's gone and at the same time, I am not shocked. 

Well, so many things I could pray for right now if I prayed. All of the people who have been so devastated by Helene in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. I would pray for those who have lost everything and I would pray for those who were injured. I would pray for the souls of the over fifty people who died in the storm and I would pray for peace for their families. 
I would pray for Mark that his death was easy and peaceful and that people he loved and who loved him were at his side. 
But I don't pray. 
I swear to you, if I hear one more person talking about the power of prayer or see one more comment on FB about how prayer works because their god protected them and kept them safe, I'm going to lose it. What sort of a god would so arbitrarily grant safety to one person and not another, despite the fact that both prayed sincerely and fervently? What sort of god would even allow such a tragedy to occur? Yeah, yeah, sure, climate change and the ensuing natural disasters are all due to the actions and choices of  humans but what kind of a god creates a world and then creates a creature who has the eventual capability to destroy that world? 

But hey! In good news, Maurice has now slept with us two nights in a row. That girl is enjoying her status as the one and only cat in the house.

Everyone keep safe if you can.

Love...Ms. Moon







47 comments:

  1. I've seen some pics from NC, no words for the horror. I don't see prayer helping anything either.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore you... I am a retired ICU RN... I do not pray either.... I never have told anyone really because I am not ready to get any rebuttal.....I love your posts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Nurses are the best people!
      I would love to hear the story of the people who would give you grief for not praying. Family?

      Delete
  3. Yes what god indeed?
    I wanted to ask you about the phrase "big bend". Is this new? Poor Vergil.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Big Bend is that part of Florida is the part that if Florida was a gun, would be where the trigger is. Apt description, right?

      Delete
  4. NC is absolutely horrific, so sorry to hear of the plight of Vergil's family. Glad that the Florida part of your family is ok. I'm sitting here this afternoon in sunny and mild Eastern Washington with a monumental case of survivor's guilt. I'm with you on the prayer stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't take in the horror in NC right now. I have never had to go through anything like that in my life and I hope I never do but damn- I sure wish NO ONE ever had to. I, too, have survivor's guilt. A hundred miles east of here houses are now in ruins.

      Delete
  5. Your B-day gathering looks terrific. Having some good family fun made a good departure from all the horror of the hurricane.
    NC devastation is shocking. I've only seen news coverage, but the flooding and landslides are terrible. Landscapes are changed forever. I hope Vergil's family can recover from this.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel certain they will recover but things will never be the same and that's for sure. Neither the landscape or they themselves.

      Delete
  6. Oh Mary, we were preparing for a family funeral today, lots of family from all over at our house so I really haven’t watch the news since yesterday and now I’m catching up and it’s devastating. I can’t imagine Virgil’s anguish at being so far away from his family right now. I have no good words to offer so I’ll just send love.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, Rosemarie! I am so sorry to hear that!
      The coverage of the storm's effects on NC is devastating, isn't it?

      Delete
  7. I haven't seen any photos, but my cousins near Ashville are flooded out. John waded to a nearby fire hall where he could get cell service to let his mother know they were okay. It was a tense day waiting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, so many people can't contact their loved ones and I know it's horrible.

      Delete
  8. I can imagine Virgil's anguish. Like Mr. Moon, he will devise some good way to help.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is working on it as we speak. He's got many lines of communication with relatives and friends in that area and they're taking care of business. But I know he wants to be up there.

      Delete
  9. I'm so sorry about the Black Mountain disaster, and send my sadness to Vergil while he tries to be in touch and help family. I've seen pictures. Barbara, one of our blogistas, also lives there and we haven't heard from her yet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope Barbara is okay. I doubt she has anyway to communicate.

      Delete
  10. My heart goes out to Vergil...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Watching that drone video was awful. So much destruction. Recovery will take years. Was Vergil and Jessie's land damaged so they can't build now? Is his parents house still standing and safe to live in?
    The birthday lunch photos are beautiful, all those happy faces 😊

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jessie and Vergil are not sure about the status of their land. They just had a driveway put in this summer along with a septic tank and a pole covering for their RV. I doubt any of that is going to be useable.

      Delete
  12. Poor Vergil and his family. It's an awful feeling, you want to be there to help and can't get there. The devestation is horrendous and reminds me of the flooding a couple of years ago in the interior of BC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so crazy how water can be as devastating in fire. It is powerful.

      Delete
  13. I’m so sorry to hear about all the death and destruction. My god, it looks horrendous. I hope Virgil’s can be with his family soon.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's really shocking to see such devastation in the Carolinas. I never would have thought that a hurricane could wreak such havoc so far from the coast. Like you said, you'd think the mountains would be safe from that kind of extreme weather, but I guess not in this climate-altered world we live in. I hope Vergil is able to reunite with his family soon and help out however he can.

    At least you were able to get together with the family and have a little celebration. Even amid the uncertainty, life goes on, right?

    Oh, and so sorry about your childhood friend Mark. It does seem very strange that no cause of death was recorded.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know that occasionally a hurricane will travel up that far but usually, it's so weakened by that much time over land that it's just a nuisance. This storm...damn. How is it even possible?
      It was good to be with everyone at lunch.
      Steve, I agree with you about Mark's death. I am wondering if what his brother told John might have been a deviation from the truth.

      Delete
  15. Terrifying to see what too much water can do.! So glad that you and the family are all ok, but sad for Vergil and his folks. Hope that there is good news from them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No good news so far, Frances. They are okay, as in alive and not injured so that is good.

      Delete
  16. I'm like Steve, I never thought a hurricane could do such damage that far away from the coast. I'm so sorry for all the pain you and everyone else is going through right now!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder if a hurricane has ever caused this much damage so far north.

      Delete
    2. Hurricane Irene in 2011 did terrible damage in Vermont, which has the same steep terrain as western NC. And then in 2012, Hurricane Sandy wreaked devastation in NY, NJ and adjacent states: https://www.arnolditkin.com/blog/general/11-years-later-life-after-hurricane-sandy/. It's not common, but it can happen. And now Helene has caused such widespread horrific devastation, and I too am amazed how far inland it drove.

      Chris from Boise, who grew up in New England

      Delete
  17. It’s shocking where the storm did so much damage. I’d pray, too, if I prayed. And I agree with you about thanking god. So much for Vergil and his family to deal with.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wouldn't it be some kind of relief to believe and "let go and let god"? But that is never going to happen with me.
      SO MUCH to deal with. It's crazy. And no real way to do it at this point.

      Delete
  18. I enjoyed the good news and applaud your cheerful happiness after such a storm.
    When in the summer of 2021 a river valley near us experienced devastating floods with loss of over 100 lives, we had to understand for the first time For Real the seriousness of climate change. When I sat with a friend who had run up the hill and watched her house washed away, when I read about a young woman, who had gone to school with my daughter, how she, eight months pregnant, had sat on the roof of her house for hours and hours after her partner and her parents had been swept away, that's when it all became our reality.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes. When things happen in our own backyard, it's impossible to continue on blindly ignorant.

      Delete
  19. That storm was so powerful to do that much damage. How scary. Looks like it will be quite a while before that can be repaired. Those poor people.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea how relief efforts are going to be organized with such devastation and so many roads washed out.

      Delete
  20. this is the crux and essence of what free will is - Yeah, yeah, sure, climate change and the ensuing natural disasters are all due to the actions and choices of humans but what kind of a god creates a world and then creates a creature who has the eventual capability to destroy that world? -- we love you Mary moon, you should teach a philosophy class. we are also glad vergil's people are ok. Helene was a vengeful bitch and we're all going to feel her wrath for years to come. xxalainaxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And here's something I keep thinking about- Vergil's family has the smallest carbon footprint of anyone I know who isn't completely off the grid. His mother has been growing and processing their food for over forty years. They are hyper aware of their presence in the world and try to keep it benign and positive. And here they are, suffering for the sins of us all in many ways. Helene was a vengeful bitch and if there is a god, so is he.

      Delete
  21. yeah, well, don't get me started on that cruel big daddy in the sky who thinks new born babies are already sinners. you already know how I feel about it anyway. I've seen the clip about Chimney Rock and others showing the flooding. unbelievable that Helene caused so much damage in NC when we expect the worst damage to happen at landfall. heartbreaking for Virgil and his family.
    and omg, that Owen. a heartbreaker for sure except he is such a gentle boy. and that picture of Lily with Jessie? I never really noticed before but Lily looks like you. I can see you in her face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, you and I share the same thoughts about religion.
      Have you ever heard of a storm originating in the Gulf doing damage anything like that so far north?

      Delete
  22. So sorry to hear about Vergil's family. Here's hoping he can get up to see them and assess the damage/help with the recovery in a reasonable amount of time. Blessings all around. x0x0 N2

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, N2. I am always glad to hear your voice.

      Delete
    2. Extra blessings on you, Dear Heart. x0x0 N2

      Delete
  23. We got through Helene okay - we're in Polk - and my Pinellas County friends are not on the barrier islands so they're fine. But I grew up in E Tenn and worked on the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC for years. My E TN relatives are all okay, but cannot get any word from my old NPS buddies. They're all north of Boone and all the news is about Asheville and Boone. I'm worried sick.

    ReplyDelete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.