The Great October Flood 2015

It has been an interesting couple of days here. The city and state have been all over the national news because of the flooding from days of constant heavy rain. If you’ve seen any news report or watched The Weather Channel, you’ve seen our devastation.

We were very fortunate on the island. The road to our house is severely damaged. But our house and property remained un-flooded. Other parts of the area were not so lucky. The damage in some areas is tremendous.

Our major concern was getting to the horses at the barn to make sure that they were okay. I walked ahead of the truck to check for sink holes and gullies. The road has been eroded by sheet flow coming off the farm fields. In some places, the holes were several feet deep. 

After we got to the barn, we found some of the fields were flooded.  I moved horses around to put them in un-flooded pastures. Water in a couple of pastures was up to the horse's knees. 

Once the horses were moved, we went about feeding them their hay. They were glad to get it and a bit frantic because horses are creatures of routine.  I have attached a few photos so you can see their happiness at being fed. 

I feel as if my story is so minimal compared to those people who have been displaced, losing their homes and everything they own, aside from what may have been thrown into a bag or two and what they had on their backs.  I saw people with babies being raced into boats to escape the flood waters that took over their homes yesterday.

So it has been a surreal few days. I hear that the sun is supposed to peak through the steel gray sky tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing it. 

One of many road wash outs

A small lake in the big ring

Driving along the flooded road

Pond overflowing into the barn

Overflow of pond

Horses waiting on hay

My boy eating his hay

The Shadow

Yesterday was one of those days that I would like to not have. I went to bed on Sunday evening watching news about Hurricane Odile on a collision path with Cabo San Lucas.  Now I have only been there one time, but the place was amazing. I thought about the open air restaurants, the simple houses where the residents live, the beggar lady Maria I met at the marina, the marina with all the boats, the horses at the ranch where I rode through the desert, the economy that depends almost totally on tourism.

So I awoke yesterday in the wee hours to see Cabo decimated by a Cat 3 hurricane.  I saw the beautiful airport in shambles, the barrios destroyed, the fancy resorts blown out and the marina trashed.  I heard some people being interviewed saying that everything will be cleaned up in two weeks. How is that possible when it is likely that power won't be back on for at least that long? Anyway,  seeing the damage in photos was bad but living through a Cat 3 gives a whole other definition to hell.

After looking as long as I could at the damage in Cabo, I checked email to learn that a long-time friend died in her sleep early Monday morning. She had just been at an event on Saturday with one of her beloved dogs.  Her last post to everyone on Sunday night was about how happy she was that her dog did well. I'm glad that she had a good two days and died happy.  She was a quiet, unassuming person who loved animals and her family.  She also suffered from rheumatoid arthritis which took her away from riding and competing with her dogs. But she still managed to get around with a cane.

I am not stunned anymore by people dying.  I am sad but realize that more and more of my friends are going to die as time passes.  Over the past year, death has simply been a factor in my life.  It is there like a shadow sometimes, especially on days like yesterday.

I prefer to not have the shadow near me and opt for bright sparkling water, ocean breezes and light days.  I keep the shadow away by traveling to the edge of the marsh.  The grass is going to seed, swaying in the breeze, changing color with the season.  It's an unsettled time of year with thunderstorms threatening in the distance, large cumulonimbus clouds building, and the light changing and moving like the leaves up in the trees.  At these moments, I am so glad to be alive, fully and with such a feeling of love deep inside my soul.

That's what I am feeling at this moment.  Love and peace to you all.

A real adult vacation and other happenings

The weather has turned hot and humid here.  I knew it would because that is so characteristic of the Lowcountry.  It has also been dry for over a week, and I have been watering the garden and the plants that are waiting to be put into the front yard beds after the irrigation system is laid out.

We decided to have the front lawn landscaped too.  I think that it will be truly stunning when completed. Right now, it looks like a dirt baseball field or a farm plot that a mule has plowed because all of the old grass was scraped up.  But soon it will look like paradise.  It actually looked good before all of this, but after seeing what magic was created in the backyard, we took the plunge on the front yard transformation too.

I didn't write a Mother's Day post yesterday because it seemed just too much. Last year, Mom had died in February. My mother has been dead now since 2005.  The loss of those two women has been incredibly hard. I think about them not just on Mother's Day.  Reaching the stage in life where I am without parents and no close blood relatives is sort of depressing. So I decided that yesterday, I would go for a sail with some friends and then visit the parents of one of my friends.

The sail was on a cat boat which is gaff rigged and only 18 feet. It was a lot of fun, even though we had light air.  The impending storm only concerned us for a few moments.  It did make for a spectacular backdrop for the city though.

I am getting ready to embark on another adventure. We leave for Cabo San Lucas on Saturday morning. Neither of us has been to Baja California Sur before, but I am familiar with the abundant marine life around the Baja peninsula, sandwiched between the Pacific and the Sea of Cortez. And I have read and re-read Steinbeck's Log from the Sea of Cortez, detailing a marine specimen-collecting expedition he made at various sites in the Gulf of California (aka the Sea of Cortez), with his friend and drinking buddy, the marine biologist Ed Ricketts. 

We are now trying to decide what to pack and what to unpack.  I am only concerned about taking my camera bag and tripod, knowing that a couple of pairs of shorts and shirts in a backpack will do me just fine. I can tell you that we are flying there. I have had an unbelievable number of people ask me how I am getting there--as if we are going to sail. I haven't calculated the time it would take to get there averaging 6 knots, but suffice to say, sailing would take a much longer time than we currently have. Now that would be a voyage! 

I am hoping to take in a meeting when I am on vacation. The condo where we are staying is about one mile from the town. So I will be looking for the Serenity Club when I am in Cabo.  Somehow, I think that just being in that place on vacation will be serenity enough. 

Hopefully, I will be able to do some short posts while I am away. I am not sure about the wifi situation. Maybe I will just be off the grid. But if I do post, it will be with some photos and to tell you what is going on. A real adult vacation--the first one in a long time. Too long. Be well. 

Storming

I am out on the boat and had hoped to stay through tomorrow afternoon. But now NOAA weather has said that the coastline is under a tropical storm warning. So tomorrow morning I will be heading back in to beat the increasing winds. 

I came out to the anchorage on Tuesday. Last evening, the sunset was spectacular. A rain shower came through and afterwards, the gulls were calling and the noise of the waves crashing on the beach provided the only sounds needed. 

I will clean up the boat in the morning and get home to make sure all will be okay there before the storm comes. We are supposed to have about 15 people over for a picnic on Saturday. Maybe the worst of the rain will be over by then.

I went to see Pop before going out on the boat and he was surprisingly good and also talking to me. He is so thin with arms and legs like sticks. But he seems to be eating more lately which is good. I feel good when I come away from seeing him and know that he is eating and communicating. 

Another fellow asked me to sponsor him last week. So when one walked away after a year and a half saying that recovery was no longer a priority, it was good that another asked me immediately to work with him on the Steps. I get a lot from working with others. I am helped by going through the steps again and again. It keeps everything about recovery fresh in my head. I am grateful for the chance to help another and by doing so, help myself. 

I will check back in as the storm moves up the coast. Happy Wednesday to all of you.