Lift Up Your Hearts!

9:15 p.m. We didn’t get our swim in. We were just finishing in the front yard when Porter came home. Since we had discovered that we were cooler working outside than we had been sitting inside, Porter decided it was time to take the rest of the plywood down so we could open the windows. During the process Jonathan discovered a stream of water in the gutter and got his shoes soaking wet. Leaving him (with his mother watching, of course) to splash and play in his naked glory, I took his shoes in to clean them up. While I was inside, the phone rang. The cordless phone rang. Wait a minute...the cordless phone doesn’t work unless we have POWER! Sure enough, the power was on; our best guess was that it came on around 6:30. Twenty-nine and a half hours without power this time. We welcomed the return of light and A/C and computing power with 100% gratitude, but also with the usual small percentage of wistfulness, as there is something magical about being without electricity. Hot, and dark, and sometimes frustrating, but also, in a way, fun. Not that I’m in any hurry for more of that fun for a while!

Porter made a trip to Home Depot tonight, as we lost enough shingles this time to require some temporary roof repair. I’m glad the store was open; when Heather and I went out, we found most stores closed, including two of our three grocery stores, and most gas stations.

Jon made it safely home. In fact, his was the call that let us know the power was back.

Jonathan is really happy to have the air conditioning back on; he was one hot and sweaty kid! While the power was off, he’d kept staring at the lights with a puzzled look, as if he couldn’t understand why we didn’t turn them on. When the power came back on, he still focused on the lights; this time with a big smile.

Time for a shower and a night’s sleep. Good night, all!

Monday, September 27, 2004. 4:30 p.m. I apologize for the long delay between updates. Just after 1:00 yesterday afternoon, as the storm was nearly over, we lost power. In fact, we are still without power, making it the longest outage for us of the three hurricanes. Porter is working from a friend’s house, the friend having both power and high-speed connection to share.

The airport opened at noon today, and we took Jon to the airport where we assume he had no trouble catching his flight, though we haven’t heard yet. We chose to take the longer, but mostly-expressway route, as uncontrolled intersections made the other roads difficult to travel. With each hurricane we get better, however: many of the important intersections had working lights, powered by generators.

Jonathan is still enjoying himself, though he is anxious for the pool to be open again. I put some chlorine in, and when it has had a chance to dissipate we may indulge. It looks a little gross, with pump and filter not working, but it should be safe and cool. When they ask Jonathan what he thinks of Florida, he’s going to say, “The people are nice, but it sure is hot and dark there.”

I’m not sure when my next update will be. We’re fine, but if you need to get in touch with us, phone is more reliable at this point than e-mail.

We’re off to do some yardwork. It will make the pool and/or cold shower feel that much better, and help justify all the really soft ice cream we have to eat.

11:30 a.m. Still here, still fine, still have power, wind is anything but still. Impressive gusts, but sustained winds aren’t bad. We jump mostly when a gust pulls the trap door to the attic open and slams it down, or when a metal piece of the chimney cap buckles and snaps back. Daytona Beach is getting pounded by one of the outer bands, while the center of the hurricane heads for Tampa. Take a look at the satellite picture to see how Jeanne is spread over the whole state and more.

I don’t know where this came from originally—it seems to be one of those things that arise spontaneously from the e-mail murk. But there’s a lot of truth in it!
You might be a Floridian if…

1. You exhibit a slight twitch when introduced to anyone with the first names of Charley, Frances, Ivan or Jeanne.
2. Your freezer never has more than $20 worth of food in it at any given time.
3. You’re looking at paint swatches for the plywood on your windows, to accent the house color.
4. You think of your hall closet/saferoom as “cozy.”
5. Your pool is more accurately described as “framed in” rather than “screened in.”
6. Your freezer in the garage now only has homemade ice in it.
7. You no longer worry about relatives visiting during the summer months.
8. You too haven’t heard back from the insurance adjuster.
9. You now understand what that little “2% hurricane deductible” phrase really means.
10. You’re putting a collage together on your driveway of roof shingles from your neighborhood.
11. You were once proud of your 16” electric chain saw.
12. Your street has more than 3 “NO WAKE” signs posted.
13. You now own 5 large ice chests.
14. You’re considering upgrading your 16” electric to a 20” gas chainsaw.
15. You know what “bar chain oil” is.
16. Your parrot can now say “hammered, pounded and hunker down.”
17. You recognize people in line at the free ice, gas, and plywood locations.
18. You stop what you’re doing to clap and wave when you see a convoy of power company trucks come down your street.
19. You’re depressed when they don’t stop.
20. You have the personal cell phone numbers of the managers for: plywood, roofing, supplies and generators at Lowes on your speed dialer.
21. You’ve spent more than $20 on “Tall white kitchen bags” to make your own sand bags.
22. You’re thinking of getting your wife the hardhat with the ear protector AND face shield for Christmas.
23. You now think the $6000 whole-house generator seems reasonable.
24. You look forward to discussions about the merits of “cubed, block and dry ice.”
25. Your therapist refers to your condition as “generator envy.”
26. You fight the urge to put on your winter coat and wool cap and parade around in front of your picture window when you finally get power and your neighbor across the street, with the noisy generator, doesn’t.
27. You’re thinking of shaving your head and getting a black Gor-Tex rain suit like Jim Cantore has and so is your husband.

And finally, you might be a Floridian if...

You ask your sister up north to start saving the Sunday Real Estate classifieds!

9:45 a.m.  We should be at church now, but storm—not to mention curfew—made the 40-minute trip an unwise venture. We did, however, have a great time of singing hymns with Heather at the piano, Jon and Porter singing, Jonathan exploring the living room, and me singing while running back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, so that the lemon-blueberry pancakes didn’t burn.

11:30 p.m. Okay, now it feels as if I’m preparing for a hurricane: I’m baking a pound cake. I think the Daleys are asleep, but Porter and I are still up, doing odds and ends (like baking, and getting the hall ready for occupation) while keeping track of the storm. It looks as if it will hit here sooner than expected, maybe about 4 a.m. I understand one of the greatest concerns is that so many people have just given up. Like one of our neighbors, who didn’t bother to put up his plywood this time. Compliance with evacuation orders is much, much lower, with many fewer people going to shelters. This despite the fact that the news commentators are saying, “Think the intensity of Charley with the duration of Frances.”

I was worried about Ivan, but Jeanne was weak and wandering for so long that I had all but forgotten about her. However, as we learned from The Hobbit:

10:30 p.m.  Just after writing that, I heard some wind gusts, but we still don’t expect much till tomorrow.

9:30 p.m. Thank you again for your prayers—don’t stop just because my updates aren’t quite as frequent as before. It’s harder to find time for computer work when there’s a lovely baby to play with!

 

I feel simultaneously the most prepared and the least prepared of all the hurricanes. Most prepared because we get better each time, and much of the work was already done. Least because this is the first time I haven’t been running around frantically, getting things done. I suppose it helps that I did some of that (housekeeping, shopping) in preparation for the Daleys’ visit. I didn’t bake this time, however. Yet. Maybe tomorrow if we have power.
HJ&J treated us to a wonderful dinner at the Melting Pot (fondue), which also helped keep hurricane fears at bay. The WMAG was very well behaved for so long a meal. He ate bits and pieces of many foods, and enjoyed making friends at other tables. Our dessert fondue was an incredible dark chocolate with crème de menthe and Bailey’s Irish cream (Heather’s concoction). So maybe it’s a good thing I didn’t do any baking....

When we returned, the forecast was bleak enough that we put up more plywood. Then we did the little things: bringing in the remaining loose objects (grill, pool equipment, hanging plants, and such; filling the tub and other containers with water; making sure the cell phone and computer batteries are charged. We had been so looking forward to taking HJ&J to church with us tomorrow, and many people there are anxious to see them. They had also planned to see family in Daytona Beach tomorrow, really the only day they can do it, since Jon leaves Monday. Weather permitting, of course. But it will take a miracle indeed to pull off those plans, as it looks as if tomorrow will be the worst day. However, as I keep saying, there’s still time for Jeanne to turn aside, and she’s been nothing if not capricious.

Not that I don’t fear and respect the hurricane’s power, but the associated tornadoes scare me even more. They just gave instructions on the radio for what to do in a tornado, including crawling under a workbench in a room with no windows. The only room with no windows here is the hall, and a workbench wouldn’t fit into it. But that’s okay, because we don’t have a workbench. I’d dig a storm cellar if it wouldn’t immediately fill with water. :) It’s a good thing the brachiation ladder is held up with hurricane brackets. It goes the length of the hall and provides an extra layer of protection. Or entertainment, if need be.

For now, all is calm here, and we hope to get a little sleep before the worst hits. I hope to be able to make an early morning update. Good night, all, and we love you!

10:30 a.m.  Porter and Jon just finished putting the plywood back up. It goes much faster when you have two strong workers—and when you already have the boards cut and the holes drilled! They also did not put up all the boards; we’re waiting for more data before decided what to do about the “safer” side of the house. I’d say the house looks weird—but we had the plywood on for so long that it actually doesn’t seem strange at all. It’s no good keeping it up all season, however; there are other risks in life besides hurricanes, and having the windows all boarded up is not good in case of fire, as has been tragically shown in Florida already this month.

I think the WMAG is going down for a nap....

Saturday, September 25, 2004. 8:00 a.m.  The Daleys arrived safely last night. Although at the time of Frances I assured them that they did not want to be here if a hurricane came through, we’re very glad to see them! Last time they moved out of the hurricane’s way. We would be very grateful if the hurricane did the moving this time.

The car seat was ready and waiting to receive the WMAG, who promptly fell asleep. After returning home, we followed suit.

Friday, September 24, 2004. 2:45 p.m. Back from a morning marathon shopping trip. Not particularly hurricane-related, though it's hard to resist picking up a few more supplies: an extra flashlight, some batteries.... Just lots of errands that I wanted to do today and tried to fit in before everyone else decided to go to the store. I was pretty successful. It was crowded, but not overly so, and certainly not like last time. Now our library books will ride out the hurricane, if it comes, safely in the library. Now I have what I need to complete Heather's birthday present (except for one piece of information, which is trying to find its way out of Janet's busy life). We're celebrating her birthday while she's here, even though it's a month away yet. Hmmm, by that logic, maybe we should celebrate Jonathan's 10-month birthday, which just passed.

Porter decided that putting up the plywood again can wait till Saturday. We want the house to look a little more welcoming for Heather's first time home in three years. And, not coincidentally, by Saturday we will have someone here who is young, male, and strong. :) Oh, wait. We'll have TWO additional people here who are young, male, and strong.

By the way, Happy 12th Birthday, You-Know-Who!

Thursday, September 23, 2004. 6:30 p.m.  Janet, now back in school, said she misses getting regular updates from us via the website. Jeanne seems to agree, because the latest forecast has her paying us a visit this Sunday. It's not likely—this time—to interfere with the Daleys' flight tomorrow. (This visit is the rescheduling of the one that was cancelled by Frances.) But what it will do for the rest of their visit remains to be seen. I reiterate my statement: Just because we went through one hurricane with Janet, I don't feel any obligation to even things up by going through one with Heather. "Jeanne, Jeanne, go away..."; after what Ivan did, I won't even think about "come again some other day."

We took the plywood off our windows this weekend. It's neatly put away in the garage, behind a lot of boxes. But it can all come out again, and go back on the windows.... Maybe it would be good if you'd add us to your prayer list permanently—or at least till the end of hurricane season. :)

Wednesday, September 22, 2004. 9:15 a.m. Jeanne is dancing around and driving all the computer models crazy, and more storms are tumbling along around her.

Sunday, September 19, 2004. 11:45 p.m. Here is a picture from Heather & Jon’s website of what Ivan did to Pittsburgh.

Saturday, September 18, 2004. 6:00 p.m. Ivan is hitting Philadelphia hard, too. NMKB lost a tree, found a couple of leaks thanks to the enormity of the rains, and were without power and phone for a while.

Saturday, September 18, 2004. 7:45 a.m. Jeanne's projected path is looking much nicer for us, and Hurricane Karl, though stronger, is comfortably far away.