A CLOSE BRUSH WITH A MONSTER

A monster out to destroy me, others, and everything we own. Like nearly every other denizen of the Treasure Coast I was in a constant state of panic mingled with exhaustion. For what seemed like a week every meteorologist showed a Cat 5 Hurricane Dorian coming ashore over Vero Beach on their chart!

Out of habit I began stocking my storm pantry back in June, little was left to buy. Also around that time I purchased the Bell & Howell Light Bar to add to my hurricane lamp collection which is good to have anyway. Even under perfect conditions, I've never lived in a place that experiences as many power outages as Vero Beach!

Always, it's a problem finding someone to board me up. However this time a neighborhood Realtor emailed the name of a man willing to do it. But yikes, the cost was $600.! -- I paid $40 back in 2004!!! Unfortunately I had no choice. Now I plan to stay boarded until November! It's only the start of peak hurricane season and I can't afford to keep repeating this!

The expense could not have happened at a worse time! Just the week before, I learned I need a dental implant among other work and I'm going to be out $1000's. I waited months for an appointment at the sliding scale clinic; I desperately need that 15 per cent discount. Unfortunately the clinic doesn't do implants. UGH!!!

But that had to wait until after the hurricane.

I moved everything of value downstairs and packed several suitcases in the event my house became unlivable. It's devastating to think of everything I've accumulated over the years being destroyed. I own few things of monetary value. However each of my possessions has a memory attached making every one a treasure.

Dorian a slow moving storm, was now forecast to hit us on Wednesday. Hopefully, it would strike during daytime. I would be able to see well enough to do damage control. Also I could sleep in my own bed the night before rather than the floor of my downstairs bathroom which is my safe room.

Marie, my snowbird friend in Connecticut said she'd call every day until the power went out along with my landline. She was true to her word! And my friend Rose said she'd drive over to check on me after the storm passed. Both are wonderful friends!

Sunday night I watched a movie titled Between Heaven and Earth, a true story about a Vietnamese woman. As a child, her village was burned to the ground. During her teens she was raped, beaten, tortured with electricity, also staked to a pole near an ant hill, her legs coated with honey, and for added measure a snake was dropped down her blouse! And there's more that I won't go into. Watching this, made me feel like a wimp for freaking out over a hurricane!

Then I remembered the photos of Mexico Beach from last year's one. It looked like a bomb blast!!! My fears were valid!!! And Dorian was now doing likewise to the Bahamas.

Almost everyone living in Florida has been to the Bahamas at least once. The man who boarded my house said he had been there 50 times or more. The thought of the destruction, death, and shattered lives there is wrenching.

Cat 5 and 4 hurricanes used to be a rarity. Sadly, with global warming (which fools deny) they are becoming common. It's anyone's guess exactly where a hurricane will come ashore.

An arrogant, argumentative man on Facebook (whom I've since unfriended) claimed that no hurricane dared to hit since he moved here and no one should worry. Then came Irma in 2017 projected to hit us as a Cat 5 or 4. This guy ran like a scared rabbit to the center of the state! The hurricane shifted farther west at the last moment striking his hotel, another example of a man's big mouth  biting him in the butt!

As fate would have it, all of us here on the Treasure Coast were fortunate again this time. Dorian just skirted us. Not once did I lose power which was a miracle in itself.  Air-conditioning in a boarded up house is a blessing.

Thursday the hurricane had passed, mail & newspaper delivery resumed. I stepped onto my driveway to sweep debris. The heat & humidity were so heavy it felt as if someone had dropped a blanket over me. But my home remained intact, that was most important.

However, next time the result could be quite different. All you can do is prepare for the worst as best you can.