Name:
Location: Palm Beach County, Florida, United States

Recently have been told I look like Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island. I hadn't heard that in years, but that is a good place to start as to what I look like, although she had a better bod. I have three boys and have been married for 13 years. Born of a Navy family, in Hawaii, one Mom, one Dad, one sister and one brother. The eldest of three children. BS in Applied Mathematics. Consider Pensacola my home town although I moved every 2-3 years of my life growing up. Currently work in the aerospace industry in an engineering position while being a Mom. Of Celtic heritage and very proud of it.

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

Ivan's Passage

Having the password to Boudica's blog is better than having the keys to her car. I thought I'd take it for a spin.

When you live in paradise, you have to pay the rent when it comes due, just like everyone else. This year the cost of living in the Florida Panhandle was a little higher than anticipated. It cost some folks their entire homes and all their belongings. We were fortunate: a couple dozen trees, a few shingles, and minor miscellaneous damage that can all be repaired. But this area, overall, looks worse than some bombed out areas that I’ve seen. The residents are slowly, like ants, cleaning up the detritus that was left in Ivan’s wake. In several years, aside form the drastic change in landscaping, a visitor won’t be able to tell that a hurricane had affected us so deeply.

Two days after Ivan’s destructive passage, I was standing on my porch looking at the downed trees and broken fences, trying to decide what I’d start on that morning. I noticed my bird feeder, which I had rehung the day before, was being used continuously by black capped chickadees, tufted titmice, finches, cardinals etc. in numbers I’d never seen before. The humming bird feeder was surrounded by so many hummers that they looked like bees flitting around. Through the trees into my neighbor’s back yard two houses over, I could see a little girl on her swing, pumping with all her might, going almost horizontal from the ground, enjoying a cool September morning in the South. I knew then that everything was really back to normal for most of us, at least those who still had a home that was livable. Only our landscape had actually changed.

We all knew the rent would come due some year, but damn, we didn’t know it would be that high.

TGOO

5 Comments:

Blogger Tammi said...

TGOO - so glad you DID take it out for a spin. Good to hear from you, good to know it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

Yeah, the rent was high this year, wasn't it? I only hope we don't see that again.

9:16 AM  
Blogger Bou said...

Well damn. I didn't know you had posted until Blogger sent me notice of Tammi's comment. I read it and thought, "What in the heck is she talking about?"

I'll move this post to the top.

9:23 AM  
Blogger pamibe said...

After the rent comes insurance... I'm wondering if/how much it's going to go up.

After Andrew all the large companies pulled out down here and my hopes of State Farm finally coming back down south have fizzled with this season's storms.

Glad life is getting back to normal, TGOO! :)

10:09 AM  
Blogger Tammi said...

"I read it and thought, "What in the heck is she talking about?"

LOL - yeah, like that was an unusual thought! :)

12:31 PM  
Blogger vw bug said...

Glad to hear the birds are getting fed elsewhere, I was thinking only my folks were getting attacked. Mom and Dad said they are all getting brave enough to enter the back porch and wait until someone comes out and puts food out. This includes hummingbirds, chickadees, squirrels, cardinels... you name it. It will never be the same, but it will be back to 'normal'. Whatever that will become. Here's hoping for the best.

1:19 PM  

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