Hurricane Irma

 I asked my daughter, Kate,

who is the museum's assistant director at the

Seminole Indian Museum,

Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki

to share her recent experiences with hurricane Irma.

****

 I think I can officially call myself a Floridan! 

After 8 years of near misses, 

Hurricane Irma took a direct aim at south Florida last week. 

 We were lucky last year when Hurricane Matthew 

 decided to stay off the coast and 

we got a bit of wind and rain. 

 This time however, 

with the size of Irma being over 400 miles wide 

there wasn't much chance 

we would not feel the effects of this powerful storm.

 Hurricane Irma heading towards Florida, followed by Hurricane Jose

I think one of the hardest things about hurricanes
 is the anxiety that comes with waiting.
 Because of Hurricane Harvey,
Floridians did not waste any time preparing for Irma.
  By Tuesday, 5 days before the storm was to hit,
 gas stations were already running out of fuel,
 grocery store shelves were bare,
and it was almost impossible to find water.
 My husband had to go to the gas station
 at 2 in the morning on Thursday to get gas--
 and even then, there was a line!

 Photo credit: Sun Sentinel

 Just waiting...

Because both my job and my husband's gave us Thursday and Friday off,
we had time to prepare our home
and make sure everything was in order.
 As the days passed,
Irma turned into a monster storm.

 Thursday she was aiming right for Miami
 as a Category 5 with 180mph winds.
 Many of our friends and co-workers evacuated.
 I tried hard not to refresh
the hurricane models every hour,
wondering which path Irma would take.
 By Saturday, Irma had shifted more west
and was heading straight for the Keys.
 My heart broke for those living there,
especially a dear friend who lives on Big Pine Key
 (where the eye would eventually hit)

Saturday morning we enjoyed some outdoors time.
 By early afternoon the clouds were rolling in fast
and rain bands beginning.
A curfew was set
and no one was supposed be out on the roads until Monday.
  Even though Irma was headed northwest,
we were going to experience
what meteorologists call the "dirty side" of the hurricane.
  Because hurricanes move counterclockwise,
 we would get the winds plus its forward velocity.  

Irma hitting Cuba on Saturday

The next 27 hours are kind of a blur.
 I barely slept Saturday night.
  The wind was howling
 and the rain was pounding.
  I got up at 5
and turned on the news,
which stayed on the remainder of the day,
only to be interrupted by the 5 or 6 tornado warnings.

 As the day progressed,
 the winds grew stronger.
  By 1pm we were getting gusts of over 100 mph.
 By 4pm the worst of the storm
 hit as the eye moved over Marco Island.
Through the wind we could hear branches snapping
from the trees and strange and loud bangs
and scrapping noises.
I couldn't imagine
what the west coast of Florida was experiencing
 knowing we were 100 miles away from the eye of the storm.

I feel so thankful
that we only lost power
 for a few minutes throughout the whole storm,
 while thousands of people are still without power across the state.
  We spent the evening huddled in our living room,
 trying to keep our mind off the storm with our favorite shows
 (not very easy to do!).
 Finally, pure mental exhaustion took its toll
 and I finally slept as the winds began to die down.

When we woke on Monday morning
 we could see the sun shining.
However, amidst the blue sky
 there was so much damage and
 stories of devastation were pouring in over the news.
 We again felt so lucky that our home
and neighborhood seemed to sustain
only damage to trees, power lines, and the city water pumps.
  Others across the state were waking up to their homes flooded
 or worse, completely gone.
Over the next few days communication was tough
with a loss of cell service
and we would message our family
 when we could through Facebook to let them know we were ok.  

 My husband walking by downed branches from a nearby tree

 To our amazement, our spiny orb spider friend outside our home survived the winds!

On Wednesday I headed out the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum
 where I work to do damage assessments of the campus.
Our museum and collections stayed safe through the whole storm!
 Unfortunately, our beautiful 1 mile boardwalk
took quite a beating from Irma.
 It will take several weeks before our boardwalk can reopen
 to the public and a much longer time
before the Cypress Dome comes back to life. 

Nine days later,

 life is still not quite back to normal.

  Grocery stores are starting to restock,

 fuel is still limited, stop lights are getting fixed. 

 People are still without the basic necessities of power and water,

 and the piles of debris from trees and vegetation

 is a daily reminder of what we all went through last week.  

Hurricanes are incredible storms 

and it's scary and amazing 

to see the strength of mother nature unleash itself. 

 I just hope that the remainder of hurricane season will be quiet!

Post Hurricane hair

Although at this time,

Hurricane Maria is devastating 

the Caribbean Islands, once again. 

Hurricane season is far from over.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

When In Florida...Watch Out for Hurricanes

This week I've asked my daughter Kate,

who lives in south Florida, to share 

her Matthew experience.  

Being a Hurricane Rookie  and 

watching a category 4 hurricane approaching 

 is nothing to take lightly.

****

Growing up in Colorado 

the only storms I was familiar with were

 the occasional tornadoes that swept across the plains during the summer 

or the winter blizzards that would dump tons of sparkling snow

 and turn our yard into a winter wonderland.  

When I made the move to Florida 7 years ago,

 I remember trading weather "war" stories with my co-workers 

and soon realized that my snow storms didn't seem so daunting 

compared to the Florida hurricanes.

I've counted myself lucky

 with just one Tropical Storm under my belt, 

and even that storm was nothing compared to the daily thunderstorms 

I encounter on my way home through the Everglades on July afternoons.

Summer storm over the Everglades

Starting in June,

 I begin checking the National Hurricane Center on a daily basis, 

wondering which small disturbance off the coast of Africa 

might angrily hurl itself towards Florida.  

And then, 

on the week of October 2nd, a little storm called Matthew 

appeared on my computer screen.  

Usually the predictive models shift dramatically and

 you can't put too much stock in its path.  

However, the next few days the storm strengthened and

 the path became more focused and seemed to be heading our way.

Storms a 'comin

I spent the earlier part of the week at the beach 

with my older sister and nephew 

who were visiting from Colorado.  

(And yes, she left for home two days before!)

We watched as dark clouds loomed over the ocean and

 I knew what was brewing out there: a Category 4 hurricane.

A hurricane kit is an essential part of becoming a Floridian. 

 It's equipped with nonperishable food, candles, matches, flashlights, 

duct tape, plastic, and other emergency gear. 

 I double checked our kit and 

found that we were missing the most important item:  Peanut butter. 

So on Wednesday morning, 

before work I naively went to the local Walmart at 6am thinking

 I would have the aisles to myself and 

browse the 100 different types of peanut butter. 

 However, the  parking lot was pure chaos. 

It was like Black Friday only worse 

with people literally running into the store. 

Entire shelves were empty and

as I grabbed the very last jar of creamy peanut butter 

I really expected to have to fight someone off!

6am at Walmart the day before a hurricane...never again.

Wednesday morning sunrise on my way to work

As I finally headed out to work,

 I felt nervous and unsettled.  

The sunrise, although peaceful, seemed out of place. 

 Matthew was strong and powerful and headed straight for Haiti,

the Bahamas and then Florida. 

 I spent the day with my staff, de-installing our Museum

(the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Seminole Indian Museum)

and moving all of the fragile and priceless objects 

into the safety of the vaults.

We were sent home early 

so everyone could do last minute preparations.

Gas stations were running out of gas and

 those that had gas had at least an hour wait in line. 

I can't imagine what Walmart was 

like then.

Thursday was D-Day.  

I spent the morning watching the news in a panic.  

The storm was heading straight for us, 

after devastating Haiti.

(my heart breaks for the estimated 1000 people who have  lost their lives).

Last minute preparations

included finally closing the hurricane shutters.

Making last minute preparations

All morning we continued waiting...

Snuggled under my Florida quilt, made especially for me by my mom, made me feel comforted.

Someone wasn't too concerned

The storm continued to come closer and finally
 the bands of rain began making landfall.
The whole county had shut down and
a 3pm curfew was now put in place.
We hadn't been under any mandatory evacuations
so it was important to stay put and stay safe.

And then over the course of a few hours,
 the storm shifted.
 Its path moved a little bit more north instead of northwest
 and that was it.
  We were left with some rain and gusts of wind
as we watched the storm move away from us,
 praying for those in its angry path.  

That evening my husband and I listened to the lessening bands of rain,
 watched CSI: Miami and
 indulged ourselves with some of our hurricane kit treats.
  We felt oddly tired from the anticipation and stress.
I had never experienced anything like this before,
 waiting for a Category 4 hurricane storm to hit.
 With the slightest change in course,
this horrific storm missed us and
we were oh so thankful!
 The worst thing that happened to me the entire day
 was that my cookie didn't fit into my cup of milk...but
I think I count that a blessing!

****

Thanks, Kate for
sharing your perspective.

I'm glad your first experience wasn't
as bad as it could have been.
So many others have
 terrible stories to tell.

Now that you've gone through your first real hurricane experience,
many of us here in Colorado
feel that it might be time for you to move back
and play in the snow!

Until Next Time-

Kyle

A New Endeavor

Over the years I've enjoyed

watching my three daughters

develop their own sense of style.

From the colors they use in their homes,

 to the clothes they enjoy wearing

to the furnishings that they use

to decorate their homes.

Jessica, Kate and Elizabeth

They are all very busy with their

careers and families and 

don't have much time 

to pursue many crafty hobbies.

Except recently.

My daughter, Kate,

over at La Vita,

has decided to make and sell

 some fun stationary cards on Etsy.

I'm always looking for simple cards

to express a thought or kind word.

I like her use of

different fonts and colors

to express a simple greeting.

They're modern and playful.

Email has taken away some of 

the letter writing and note sending habit.

But who still doesn't love getting

a card or a note the old fashion way?

Maybe a hand written note or card

 will find its way back

as we become more and more

impersonal with so much"social media".

Until Next Time-

More Celebrations

The day after Thanksgiving

could have you feeling like this..

 or like this...

 but,

we have more birthdays to celebrate.

 May, 2012

Happy Birthday, Kate and Jessica!

What a year you've had!

Until Next Time-