Thursday, September 13, 2018

Calm before the storm. . . . . . . .


Today we await the visit from Hurricane Florence. She continues a path
 toward the North Carolina coast to make her landfall tomorrow at a
 beach town we often enjoy, the one we always visit in Autumn which is our
 favorite season at our beautiful coast.

I know I've been overly stressed and short tempered for the past couple
 of days as the media bombards us with a mishmash of
  'end of the world', 'fire and brimstone' destruction stories, and yes perhaps 
that's what will happen. It's all in the hands of a greater power from hereon.

This morning when I read the words 'we are in peril' somewhere on my screen
 here, I realized only too well that a huge part of our area is in imminent danger 
from winds and rain, structural damage, and massive flooding, during the coming days.


Juvenile American robins on the front porch.

Even our birds have disappeared from the garden. Do they know 
something is amiss and have 'evacuated' further inland to a 
safer place?  
These young robins, and other fruit eaters, have decided the fig tree no
 longer looks like a place for breakfast.

Our cottage almost looks unlived in today - bare porch, no more hanging 
baskets and feeders, furniture stored away, pots moved. . . . . . just
the grill left out on the back deck in case we lose power and have to 
cook outside. Bob was able to get propane yesterday after three days
of trying, and we also managed to find gas for the cars. Tomorrow we'll 
 park in a deck at the nearby shopping center as we have so many huge
 trees around us - nowhere is safe for the cars even on our street - and as
we are on a cul-de-sac we only have one exit which could be blocked 
by fallen trees.
Memories of the damage we sustained in Hurricane Fran (1996) from trees
 falling on the house, one destroying my car in the driveway, no power for
 10 days, then months of clean up, remind us how we take modern day life
 for granted until those 'perils' arrive. . . . . . and of the mighty power of Nature!

Thanks so much for all the good wishes that we stay safe in the
days ahead. We too are hoping the best for our family, friends and
 neighbors both here locally and scattered across North Carolina.
 I'll be back here as long as we have power. 


19 comments:

  1. Oh Mary, I had no idea you were so close to the damage area. I too will hope for the best outcome for you. I lived through a small hurricane in Houston and would not want to be in a strong one. The water and power outages are terrible. I did not know you been through the damaging one before. Best of luck and good wishes for you and yours.

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    1. Yes Donna - survived Fran, and 3 yrs. later Floyd - tree on roof again when he hit!
      I think I really want to move but to where I just don’t know!!!
      Thanks for your good wishes.

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  2. We are tying down our outdoor furniture today. It looks like we are going to be hit Monday at 2AM. Stay safe. Hugs to both you and Bob.

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  3. Do not let fear run your brain - calm will help you cope and make good decisions and take the right actions. I think this is an indirect quote from Harry Houdini.

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  4. You are under a lot of stress and tension just now. You've prepared well, and now must wait. It's not easy. Do take care, Mary and Bob. I'm holding you in my prayers.

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  5. Thinking of you. Praying for your protection and for the protection of your property. Stay safe and, as possible, let us know how you are, So glad that you were able to find propane and gasoline for the cars. Yes, I do believe the birds and critters know how to hunker down or escape to a safe place. Absolutely exquisite photos of the robins...

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  6. Praying for your safety in the storm x

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  7. I have a sense of how you must be feeling Mary - we lived through an unusual hurricane (by British standards) when we stayed in Glasgow, and our eldest son was a toddler. However, we had no idea that it was coming in those days and when we awoke in the middle of the night we were both totally confused as it felt as if we in a storm at sea - the only we way we could communicate was by shouting because the roar and noise was so great - the hurricane reached 140mph (225 kph). We were very frightened, and when we saw all of the disaster around us in the morning, the first thing I said was "let's move away from here quickly".
    You sound as if you have done everything you possibly can to keep yourselves safe - all of your blogging friends are thinking of you both and really hoping for the best possible outcome.

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  8. Oh Mary, it gets harder to face these ‘big things’ on our own as we get older. If memory serves me right you have family nearby (Jasmins family), hopefully they are caring and supportive.
    You’ve done so well, organising your cars and the necessities.
    We know about trees too as we have a huge Totora (NZ’s largest native) about 3 metres from our townhouse - it’s a worry and because it’s a protected species we can’t cut it down...... we had a few worrying nights during storms a couple of months ago.
    We live in a cul-de-sac too - so I understand what you meant about moving your cars to a safer space. We want to move from here too - but can’t decide where.
    Thank you for the exquisite photos of your young Robin - all animals seem to know when storms are on their way.... “if we could talk to the animals” as the song goes ..... they could let us know.
    Keep safe my dear friend - I’ll keep in touch and praying it’s not too bad.
    Hugs for you and Bob
    Shane xxx

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  9. You are in my thoughts and prayers, Mary. Stay safe.

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  10. We have not been listening to or watching any news over the past 10 days as we've been on holiday, but today on the long drive back we were listening to the radio and they were talking about Florence. Hopefully there won't be damage to your property this time. It all sounds very scary.

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  11. Please stay safe, Mary. Hope it is not too bad.

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  12. Thinking of you and Bob during this Florence event. Stay safe dear friends. Sending safe thoughts to you and those around you. You are all in our thoughts and prayers and covering you with an imaginary safety net.

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  13. Thinking of you. I expect the water supply will be the worst damage. Hope you have plenty of good books to read.

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  14. Oh Mary, I think of you everytime I see the news - thoughts and prayers, and stay safe! x

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  15. Have been thinking of you, and of other friends who live permanently in the Carolinas, as we watch the progress of Florence from afar. My thoughts and prayers are with you dear Mary as you weather the stormy days ahead. Sending love from Normandy.

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  16. Dear Mary,
    We are thinking of you and Mr B. Please be watchful and keep yourselves save. We will do our part by thinking of you and keeping you in our prayers.

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  17. Praying so the hurricane predictions dont make any progress at your end.
    May God bless you all.
    Fabby

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