2017 Life Logs, Day 262: Holy, Hurricanes!
Date: Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Weather: Overcast with Rain Here and There; High 69, Low 67 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Studio, Falmouth, MA
Holy, Hurricanes! This weather is going to drive me over the edge. Two weeks ago tomorrow, Irma bore down on Puerto Rico. Tomorrow, exactly two weeks later, Maria will do the same. We were lucky with Irma as she made a northward turn at the last minute and spared Puerto Rico her full rath. And still there was a billion dollars in damages. There doesn’t seem to be any way out for Maria. She is going to go right across Puerto Rico. But for Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco, tonight it looks like there is some hope that the hurricane will hit the east coast and then veer northward toward San Juan or just a little west of the city. If this happens, Maria will spare her full force on the west coast where Justin and Jo live. I learned on the Weather Channel today that Puerto Rico is the most densely populated area of the United States and much of that population is centered in the area around San Juan. So, there are no happy scenarios, but I can only hope against hope that Justin and Joe’s Finca Maravilla will be spared the worst.
I am so very, very proud of both Justin and Jo. They have met the adversity of these hurricanes with hard work and grace. I know they are scared, but they try not to transfer that fear to Coco and Ziggy. Justin sent a text late this morning asking if I would like to Skype video with Ziggy and Coco. I got to converse with Justin and Jo for a bit before they headed back to their prep work. I could see the exhaustion and apprehension in their eyes, but I could tell that Ziggy and Coco saw none of this. Z and C walked me through all of the preparation and explained how things would go during the storm. They had obviously been well prepared by their parents. I also got to talk to them about their new school year. Both Ziggy and Coco described their school days in detail and shared with me their current favorite books. They took me on a video tour of the house and the preparations underway outside. What a special interactive video contact this was. Now I just look forward to getting the “all clear” text on Thursday. In the meantime, those of us on the northeast coast of the US have to negotiate the wind and rain sent our way by Hurricane Jose. It looks like we will get winds and rain like a boisterous nor’easter with 25-35 mph winds and gusts to 50 mph. We might lose power which is not a big deal this time of year, but that will mean that I will not be able to watch the weather channel non-stop to keep track of Maria. Hopefully I’ll still have cell service, however, so I can receive texts from Justin and Jo. It is going to be a tense 36+ hours.
After talking to Justin and family, I needed to get out and about to distract myself. I busied myself making sure all of the furniture was off my deck and then I went to Heather and Jed’s and stored all of their outdoor furniture and soccer goals. I looked a mess when I was done as it was rainy and muddy, so I came home to clean up and then went back out to do some shopping and to deliver something to Bruce and Jane. They offered me late afternoon tea and it was helpful for me to vent some of my weather frustrations with them. We also reviewed the day’s political news, but that was just too depressing. Trump’s speech at the UN today was just not our ‘cup of tea’. Once I got home, I think I was on the phone for almost two hours. Mark’s sister Mary Ellen called and brought me up-to-date on their Hurricane Irma experiences. Then I talked to my friend Detta Porat from New Hampshire. Her sister has a retirement home in St. Croix which is going to get hit with Maria tonight. So, we commiserated about family with homes in the Caribbean. Then I talked to my sister Patsy who wanted to check on everybody’s safety in the wake of these storms. And now I am going to go to bed so I can be rested for another day of tense weather-watching.
