No, really, there is... Hurricane Ida. It's so windy out today. The skies are ominous. The temperature is cool and detached. And it is going to miss us completely, by at least eight hundred miles.
Hurricanes are an amazing thing. They are such a regular occurrence here that the word doesn't ever instill fear. Instead, it seems to instill hope. Beneath the certain twinge of anxiety of the unknown, there's hope...of school closings and early ends to long, boring work days, of coolers full of beer and pantries full of comfort food, of forced slumber parties and extended sleeping hours due to the darkness of the hurricane shutters., of warmth and love and unity. The first hurricane we weathered together in this house was the last hurricane to hit Miami -- Hurricane Wilma in 2005. It was a measly Cat 1, but it took out our power for three weeks, along with sprinkling our outdoor aluminum roof all over the neighborhood. There were at least three men that came by asking to pick up the scraps so they could recycle it and cash out. It's so bizarre how people try to turn a buck...
Dozens and dozens of bags of breastmilk, all thrown out due to spoilage. That's what I remember most. Other than that, I remember closeness and family and comfort and nice evenings with the windows open and cool air coming through. I remember big family dinners at my in-laws and really appreciating my gas dryer and gas range oven. Hurricanes are amazing around here, because they are an excuse to come together.
There was another hurricane that passed through here last night...same ominous skies, same aloofness in the air, mixed with some thunder and lightning. The aftereffects are still being felt, and I'm hopeful, being the cause of last night's hurricane, that it will do just as little as most hurricanes -- clear the air, bring in beautiful weather and warm, fresh breezes, and dissipate before ever making landfall.
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