TinyTuesday 120: Cleanup & Move On

When I was a little kid I loved hurricanes! We'd stay up all night playing Canasta. It was exciting! After the storm we kids would build 'forts' in the piles of downed tree limbs. As I matured, these killer storms became a lot less 'fun'. Storm prep... during the storm the worry about would the awnings or window protection hold and keep us safe? Would the roof blow off? Would our tree friends still be with us in the morning? And the really bad storms always seem to occur at night! So unknown things crashing down on your roof or being blown against your window protection...their true identities are left up to your imagination. You worry about tornados which often accompany hurricanes. During the worst of the storm lightening is often quite spectacular as are power transformers exploding!  Depending on the size of the storm and it's speed ...no...regardless of those...it's a terrifyingly long time until the winds finally subside. But be careful because it might just be the storm's 'Eye'  and the winds will soon start up again, just as ferocious as before! Hopefully you've prepared a 'safe-space' in your home in a windowless room, closet or bathroom where you and anyone else trying to survive can take refuge. Perhaps your home is not secure enough or you live close to large bodies of water and must evacuate to some other place or maybe to a shelter. 

And then...'Cleanup'. Sometimes it isn't much, just drag a few limbs out to the curb for pickup. Other times, working with neighbors to pull a tree that had come uprooted, back into the ground. Sometimes houses, fences or whatever need to be repaired as best you can until someone who actually knows how to fix it is able to get to you. Sometime you don't have power for days, sometimes for many weeks. If you have a well, you don't have water either since pumps don't work well without electricity. Sometimes there is a break in the water lines and you must boil any water you wish to drink or bathe with. You work like a dog, no actually like a horse for days on end in daytime temps in the 90'sF to put your life back together. When you are able to go back to work, you do. Then you continue to piece your life back together after work and on the weekends. You carry your chainsaw in your car because you may need to clear a downed tree from the roadway or maybe a friend/neighbor needs some help clearing downed trees. Procuring fuel for your car and that chainsaw and your generator, if you're lucky enough to have one, is a struggle. So you're always on the lookout for stations that are open and are selling. Ice is gold. So you also carry ice chests around where ever you go. Slowly, very slowly life begins to 'normalize'. Neighborhoods, towns and cities rebuild.  But you'll carry these storm memories with you for the rest of your life. When you get together with other storm survivors, you'll have all these stories to share. And perhaps like me, you'll never be comfortable during a simple thunderstorm ever again. 
 
I'm sharing this with you because:
 1. I needed to. 2. It's important to know what people go through in this situation. and 3. This is best case scenario...I can't even imagine how all those folks in the islands and in Florida who have lost their homes and in some cases loved ones in this killer storm find the strength to go on. I'm crying even as I type this.

Peace 

I have no idea what kind of mushrooms these are and I don't have time to look them up.