warning: typing as I think...may make no sense, may have no point...

Sorry about the size of this photo, I wanted to crop it down enough to still get across my point, but not show too much detail as to where I live.

So...this is a satellite photo of my street, thanks to Google maps. The red 'drop' looking thing is kinda off, but I don't know how to make it move...I'm southeast of the tip, kind of a tan looking roof...kind of hidden by trees. Which is my point. Trees. HUGE trees. Everywhere. Great shade. Beautiful to look at as they tower over the house. Trees that have got to be 100's of years old. Sounds perfect right? It is...until June 1 rolls around. What's June 1 you ask? I would ask the same thing if I hadn't lived thru last summer. June 1 is the start of hurricane season.

Jeb says the state isn't ready. Tell me this Mr. Govoner...first, isn't that your job, to get us ready? Second, how do you prepare to have your roof ripped off? How do you prepare for your car to be smashed by a tree? You don't. You can't.

I've lived in Florida my entire life. My mom was born here...and I'll tell you, that's not common. The morjority of the state, especially south of, say Jacksonville or so, is transplants, very few natives here. I love living in Florida. I don't love the stifling heat of the summer, I don't love that I've never had a snow day, but all in all, I love Florida. Hurricanes come with living here, I know this. I've been told stories of how a hurricane 'followed' us from Miami to Cocoa Beach during my first birthday. We went to Miami to celebrate with my grandparents, the hurricane was headed there so we went home to Cocoa Beach & it pretty much ran up the coast, from Miami to Cocoa Beach. I remember when Hurricane Andrew hit South FL. I remember being late for school that morning because of the heavy rain we were getting from it. I remember seeing the Homestead military base on TV & pointing out to my mom where I had stayed during a Girl Scout summer trip, just 3 weeks earlier. The building we had stayed in was gone, nothing but the concrete slab foundation was left. I remember when Erin came through Orlando, it was pretty much a tropical storm by then & it was kinda fun having all our family in our house for a couple days...didn't lose power, so it was just a bunch of kids playing & having fun while we waited for the rain to stop.

Now though, now I hear the word 'hurricane' and it means something totally different to me.
It means having to buy all new grocries because everything in the fridge will be spoiled. Of course that can't be done for at least a week, it takes that long for the stores to get power back & for them to get their fresh food replenished. In the mean time you go from restaurant to restaurant, hoping to find one that has power & food...and waiters to serve you since many people can't even get into work. Same with gas, lots of stations have power but no gas, others have gas but no power. And you better have cash on hand, most of the ATMs have been cleaned out and many of the stores aren't able to use their credit card machines.
Granted...this is all assuming your car wasn't smashed by trees or flying debris and that your able to even leave your house, you really can't if you have no roof or one of those beautiful oak trees in your living room.

So my point in all this rambling...I'm not looking forward to this. I will be the first to admit that I was scared last summer. I'll never forget the last minute rush to make plans when Charley turned paths & was headed our way. I remember taking the day off work, just because, it was planned weeks in advance. I stood in the driveway & let Em ride her bike while I talked to my mom on the phone, talking about how it was headed for Tampa & we were going to be on the bad side of it. I can still hear the weatherman say, "Charley has changed direction and is making a beeline for Orlando. We've just become Charley's target." What was going to be bad had just became horrible. And we about 4 hours to change our plans, to prepare for a head on hit instead of a side swipe.
I'll always remember the fear I felt that day. Trying to decide what was 'important' & stuffing it into the trunk of my car. Trying to explain to Em why we were in such a hurry. I'll remember getting on I-4 to make the 25 mile drive to my moms house, not being able to see past the hood of my car, pulling over & crying. Just sitting on the side of I-4 in tears. I called my mom and basically told her that I didn't know what to do. I was scared & I wanted to be with her, but I couldn't get there. She promised me she would be OK & told me to go to a friends house, there was no way I was allowed to stay in my house, the one with the beautiful towering trees.
So I did, we went to Laura's mom's house. We sat & watched TV, the weather of course. Em had a blast playing with the 3 Golden retrievers there. And then the lights went out. Em summed it all up when she said to me, "I'm ready to go home now mommy." Me too, Em. But that was the beginning of a very long night. That night was the beginning of a very long summer.

Each storm was different, but the same. The gas was never easier to find. The days without power didn't get any shorter. (although my amazing boss offered to pay for a hotel room for Em & I if our power wasn't on by the time we got home that day...which was about the 3 day without by that point)

For months, Em would ask when the next hurricane was coming. We would drive down the street & she would say, 'they have a lot of damage' or 'be careful of the power line mommy'. She would tell people in the store that we were lucky cause our house wasn't broken. We were lucky. We were very lucky. It's believed that a small tornado ran down our street, behinds the houses, thru the connecting backyards... behind OUR house. We were lucky to not get damage from it.

I actually think back to parts of the experience & smile. I remember the man who talked & joked with me while I pumped gas one day...after waiting 25 minutes in line. I remember the cell messages that were almost codes, you have to talk fast when there's no way to charge the battery. I remember talking to Martha the afternoon before Charley, she said she had Coke, Oreos and a Harry Potter book...what else could she need for a hurricane? Later that night she called from the closet where she was hiding & demanding that I not hang up with her, because if I did then she would be alone. But I learned last summer that I'll never be alone. I learned that I don't have a cell battery big enough to handle all the 'are you OK?' phone calls I got. I learned that people are good. I learned my neighbors name when I took him cases of bottled water. I learned new ways to the daycare, new ways to work, ways to get around 4 lane roads blocked by trees. I prayed with a co-worker before we headed out to prepare for storm #3. I laughed at the neighbor across the street when he ran outside in his boxers, jumping up and down & singing, "I've got the power!" within seconds of our street getting becoming 'live' again.

So, I'm not looking forward to this season. I'll always see June - November different now. Even if Orlando never get hits again, I've been changed by it. But, we're OK. We will be OK. We will stink and be grumpy, but we will be OK.