WAITING FOR IRMA

       SATURDAY, SEPT. 9, 5 P.M. 

SUCH A CRAZY TWO WEEKS it's been.  My sons and I went to Burning Man twelve days ago.  

The annual gathering in the Nevada desert was fantastic.

  

    I'd be writing about it now but something came up, a huge storm from the Caribbean. We had no idea spending a week in the desert heat was preparing us for Hurricane Irma. We can hear her howling outside our Coconut Grove home now.

     As she lingers off Cuba, just hours away from the US mainland, we know things are going to get weird -and primitive- soon.  Any minute the electricity will go out for a week or more (the lights are flickering now).  The lack of AC will make some delirious but me and the boys? We just spent a week in tents and 100+ degree heat.  There were no showers but here? Refreshing cold ones for a while!

        We're ready for Irma and most South Floridians have been though this many times. 
You hear about an approaching storm and hope it doesn't hit you. You prepare,

you party, 

 

then wait.

      The day before is strange and quiet. You know nothing will happen soon yet stores are closed and streets are barren.

   As the winds slowly rise (it's gusting over 50 m.p.h. now) the power goes out.  When things get bad we'll watch through one-inch peep holes I drilled in the shutters.

  Five of us will gather around candles, flashlights, and radios like people from the 40's listening to the latest news.

 The news now is good for us and bad for others.

    We just learned that the Howling Woman is swinging her hips to the west and we're elated. Miami probably won't get the worst of it but those on Florida's west coast will.  It's always a trade-off. We're hoping Irma will dance around the Gulf of Mexico entertaining the shrimp until her mojo runs out.

   But for now, we wait, hoping for the best. Chances are we'll still have a roof in the morning.

               __________________________