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Ok just checking in. Terrible sore throat from my covid bout - it felt at first like I popped a handful of red-hot charcoal briquets into my mouth and swallowed them -- but not nearly as painful now, no other symptoms, fingers crossed that this watered-down covid strain subsides and leaves it at that. So, hopefully, all I have to worry about is the hurricane headed straight for me here in Orlando, which sounds a lot more dramatic than it is. Hurricanes accumulate power over warm water. Once they hit land, that power and those winds diminish rapidly. I will hear lots of scary noises and my power will go out but I will be fine. If you don't see me post in the near future it will be because of that loss of power and internet going out, which most likely will happen.

Now for the bright side: I cannot go through a hurricane without quoting Zora Neale Hurston, the fabulous black author of the 1920s who lived right down the road from me, in Eatonville, which is just five miles away from the single story and quite sturdy concrete block home where I am writing this.

I love and honor Hurston first as an African American literary pioneer and second for having invented a phrase that encapsulates how scary it is to be in a situation where you hope to be spared to survive -- and that is all you have: hope.

The phrase is: “Their eyes were watching God.”

You may remember I referred to it several years ago, the last time I wrote about going through a hurricane, in a story I wrote for a local magazine and posted here.

That sublime Hurston phrase -- you'll understand just how sublime once I explain -- served as the title of a novel she wrote based on her experiences growing up in what was then the all black community of Eatonville in the 1920s. She uses the phrase just one time in the novel. It appears in a chapter that depicts the fearfulness of a small group of the town’s residents as they silently face a moment when they know their survival is not up to them -- a moment when they can only hope to be spared as they weather the wrath of a hurricane, huddled at night in a flimsy, lantern-lit shanty of the era that could be easily swept away, and them with it, by the storm.

Here is the paragraph where she used that beautiful phrase, which so marvelously captures the sense of helplessness and hope we all experience at one time or another:

"The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in their shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls.....They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

Maybe this sounds prideful but when I see someone put words together that well, my heart turns to me and says: "That's our tribe."

09/28/22 03:52 PM

#11664

As you know, a hurricane is a circle that revolves around an "eye" where the winds are the strongest. It's a big, spinning circle, with bands that swirl out around it. Imagine you have a stick, with lots of long ribbons attached, and you're holding it over your head and looping it around in a counter-clockwise motion like a lasso. Well, right now, with the eye of the hurricane still way down south, all I'm getting are the grazing touch of the outermost tendrils of the ribbons, with their wind, rain, and swirling clouds, and it's not so bad. The wind chimes do their thing. The trees wave around. Raindrops spatter the pool.

Meanwhile, from the direction of my front yard, which faces south, the center of the hurricane is getting closer, as are the much meaner bands of wind and rain and thunder tighly wound around it. They'll arrive tomorrow. What fun.

09/28/22 08:27 PM

#11665

John Maxwell

Man oh man! Watching the news of the Sharknado skirting the west coast of FL. It's going to take I-4 to Orlando then up to visit with those nice folks near Savanah then on to Charlotte or Charleston (I always get them mixed up.) All you can do is duck and pray. Good Luck!

09/29/22 06:37 AM

#11666

wind roaring and windows rattling all night but I've seen worse. Apart from flooded streets very little damage. Hurricane headed for the coast; orlando dodged the bullet. Grateful. Now let's see if I can get some sleep.

09/29/22 01:45 PM

#11667

Janie Albright (Blank)

Dave, Mary Ann, anyone still in Ian's path praying for you!

09/29/22 03:31 PM

#11668

Many, many were not as lucky as I. The destruction and loss of life to the southwest of me is stunning and tragic.

09/29/22 04:43 PM

#11669

Mike,

Sitting here in Starbucks after we got our flu shots. The MA who administered them was from Orlando and was telling us of her family's problems with the flooded streets being full of CATFISH! She was just happy there were no snakes or gators - yet.

Jim

09/30/22 12:00 PM

#11670

Orlando, Florida. 11:51 am. Not a cloud in the blue, blue sky. Sunny but cool, or as cool as it gets. It's not a crispy fall. It's the kind of "ok I'll give you a break from the humidity and don't complain" fall that Florida grudgingly provides. Unlike others you are high and dry, or at least high and drying, though the backyard lawn yard and the bottom of the swimming pool are filled with leaves and broken branches. Thousands down south don't have yards to worry about anymore, or pools to swim in, or houses to live in. Deal with the fallen leaves. Count your blessings while you're at it.

09/30/22 12:29 PM

#11671

Janie Albright (Blank)

Dave, check in! We are worrying about you! Prayers being sent your way! And We'd like a photo...

09/30/22 02:08 PM

#11672

Steady medium rain all night. Great for sleeping to the sound of it on my roof. Some moderate winds all night. Lost power - normal here during any rain storms due to rain soaked large old Oak branches falling on power lines. Of course it came back on during the night so I had to get up and turn off all the lights I had left on.

Basically, it was a non-event here. So grateful I don't live in Fort Meyers or Sanibel. My biggest challenge is a little bit of yard cleanup.

09/30/22 02:09 PM

#11673

Glad to hear it Dave. By the time it hit here it was a tropical storm and I knew it wasn't going to have enough warm water underneath it on the way to your house to muster up another punch. It was sure holy hell down south, though. Going to take years to rebuild.

09/30/22 03:16 PM

#11674

In the aftermath of all this destruction and loss of life, there will inevidably follow the discussions about the risks and costs of building on land so close to the shoreline. The discussion has gone on for years down here and will continue again after this storm.

I, for one agree that we chould be much more restrictive as to ocean front development. There will be massive insurance payouts and the cost of insurance will probably rise. And the arguments of who should share in those costs. Some of the cost of the insurance is born by the taxpayers, and that sparks many disccussions about fairness and responsibility.

Again, I think greater ocean front development restrictions are in order. That and much stricter building codes in those sensitive areas. I'm no expert, but we have all seen this scene played out over, and over, and over. Just going back to the same old routine seems wasteful, and foolish - not to mention risky.

-------------

P.s. If you are wondering about my own property location, please understand I do not own this place. I have rented here for 20 years (shame on an old Rear Estate broker like me). My landlords have raised my (very low) rent $100 in all this time. Hard to leave this Shangra La on the May River where we almost NEVER get hit.

________

Added later

More to the point of this age-old discussion. I live at a mere 10 or 12 feet above sea level. That is not very much. But this old cottage has been standing here for over 80 years. The problem I am talking about is those areas (you've all seen the photos) where there is constructon jammed together at about 2 to 4 feet above sea level. That just makes no sense at all !

10/01/22 08:13 AM

#11675

Mary Ann Nolan (Thomas)

Ian gave Beaufort a break once again. Further north of us in Pawleys and Charleston did not fare as well. Dave glad to know you are safe.

10/01/22 02:39 PM

#11676

Same to you Marry Ann.

It was really a non-event here - as usual.

The history of our area is that this part of the East coast curves in so far that they almost always hit Florida, and then head up to Charleston, or further north. We got some damage from Matthew a few years ago, but I don't think a big one has here here directly since the 1940s.

Strange to see so much damage a few hours to our north (Myrtle Beach) while we got almost nothing.

10/01/22 11:43 PM

#11677

_{Any more updates/info from Tom and Tess, Frank Ganley or other Floridians or other SC residents ( according to our profiles Marrue Shirley lives on Pawleys Island)?}

_Jim

10/02/22 10:07 AM

#11678

Mary Margaret Clark (Schultheis)

last night late I was in the back yard looking at the sky. And I could see the constellations and planets so clearly - more of them than usual, and those so sharply defined. And I realized that the hurricane had essentially scrubbed the sky as it came through. In the natural order of things, that's their job, scrubbing - cleaning out the forest of brush and weaker trees, a big version of those scooter things that clean your floors for you.

10/02/22 11:06 AM

#11679

I have been reading Victor Davis Hanson for many years. His article today spoke to the heart of what lies ahead for my kids and grandkids. This is not the legacy my grandparents and parents left for me, and yet it appears to be the legacy I will be leaving behind.

https://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2022/10/02/the-thinnest-veneer-of-civilization-n2613861

10/02/22 01:42 PM

#11680

More on the random nature of hurricanes.

The company I drive for did a wedding yesterday here in Bluffton. As the date approached, there were a lot of worries as to whether it could take place or not. Would we even be driving at all? But as it turns out, the weather here was gorgeous - about 78 degrees, sunny, and dry.

I drove the "get-away" car - bride and groom and all their stuff (change of clothing, bottle of Champaigne, extra snack food, wedding dress bag, etc.)

As we drove out from an expensive golf club house here in Bluffton onto the "Island" (Hilton Head) to their condo on the beach, they shared with me about some of the luck of their timing. But it wasn't without some collateral damage. Out of about 200 invited guests (mostly all from California and New York - this is a "desitination wedding location) 46 of them cancelled, expecting the storm to be too risky. And four of the ushers, who had flown in to Atlanta from San Francisco, had their flight to Savannah cancelled. So they had to rent a car and drive the 4 1/2 hours to get here. What a shame for those who did not come. The weather was perfect.

How fortunate it wasn't scheduled for Sanibel, or Fort Myers.

10/02/22 03:37 PM

#11681

"There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!"

I'm going to switch gears, latitude and altitude from sea level where hurricanes have struck to where wildfires are more of a danger. Fortunately, no wildfires occurred this year in the area I recently visited.

On September 30th I made my annual trek into the mountains to capture some fall color. Yes, some 2000 miles from the Florida gulf coast and about 2 miles above sea level. As mentioned in a previous post, this year was difficult to predict when the aspens would be at peak change, but I did find some areas where that was the case. Best aspen growth in the forests is somewhere between about 8500 and 10,000 feet in altitude. On my journey into Pike National Forest in Teller County, the peak changes seemed to be around 9000-9500 feet.

In the old "film camera" days photographers were aware that it was expensive to shoot rolls of 36 exposure Kodak or Velvia color film or slides and have them professionally developed. Thus, fewer exposures were made and more care was taken in composition and the essentials of making a good photograph. With today's digital cards it is fairly inexpensive to take hundreds of shots and see them immediately on the camera's screen and delete or keep them. I try my best to adhere to the old ways of taking fewer photos and making each count. That being said, I still end up, when I upload them to my computer, of finding only a few which I feel are worth sharing.

So, the theme of this year's foray was Gold. Here is a litte bit of gold in trees, history and trying to get rich.

The above shot is off of a dirt road, Four Mile Road, which splits from CO 67 and passes through several good aspen stands until it rejoins CO 67 (4 miles later - duh!) at Gillett, north of Cripple Creek. Some aspens are close to peak color, others still green.

Four Mile Road. A few aspen off to the left and right have dropped their foliage but one stand is in full change and catching the morning sun.

Backlit aspens. The golden leaves are translucent and give a nice glow with the late morning sun. The few remaining green leaves are basically opaque.

So much for the trees themselves, now onto a different type of gold!

This is a shot of Cripple Creek (yep, that's the whole city!) elevation 9494 feet and I was on a hill about 1000 feet above. Since 1891 to present the Cripple Creek gold mine region has produced more gold than the gold rushes of California and Alaska combined, thus giving it the title of "The World's Greatest Gold Camp".

Today the "Creek" is better known for its casinos where gamblers hope to strike it rich in the Rockies in a different "vein" (another pun, intended).

But mining gold is still an active pursuit:

This picture is but a small part of the Cripple Creek and Victor (formerly the Cresson) Mine. For scale, notice the cars parked in the "parking lot" space about halfway up the road on the left side of the picture and the buildings on top in the middle. And this is just a small part of this massive mining operation.

Yes, there is still "gold in them thar hills" and can be found in trees, casinos and mines.

Caution: There are still dozens of old mine and air shafts from the early days that are a danger to any who wander around the hillsides of this region. Not to mention the rattlesnakes!

Jim

10/02/22 04:16 PM

#11682

wish I could be there just long enough to take a deep breath.

10/02/22 07:48 PM

#11683