Aftermath

I guess we will have to wait for sunrise to begin to assess the damage caused by Helene.  Here, I think, we were very lucky.  I went for a walk early in the morning in order to beat the storm, but the storm did not come during the daylight hours.  Not here.  After wishing Skylar luck, I heard from her that she would take it.  Later, she said that the luck had been good.  It was just then that our worst weather had begun.  

After my walk, I took a soak in the tub.  I had been getting text messages saying a package needing my signature was coming from FedEx.  It looked to be a phishing scam to me for I had ordered nothing.  I did have some hope that someone had thought to send me a package, but I didn't really believe in that.  

As I lay in the tub, there was a knock on the door.  I wrapped a towel around my considerable waist and dripped water across the wooden floor.  I looked out and saw a FedEx delivery man.  I cracked the door open slightly and confessed I was in the tub.  The fellow decided to give me the package without the signature.  It was from B&H.  What?!  I knew what was in the box--a camera that I had ordered back in February, a brand new Fuji X100VI.    

I went back to the tub and finished my ablutions, showered, dressed, and cut open the box.  I looked at the camera.  WTF?  I didn't need it, and now I didn't really want it.  I had been thinking of cancelling my order for awhile.  But there it was, and I had all the extras and accessories for it from the Fuji X100V that was stolen from me last year, hundreds of dollars worth.  So, I put in a battery and began charging the two others I had from before, and started putzing around with setting up the camera and menu options.  There were way too many menu settings, and the day wore on.  Decision after decision.  By the afternoon, however, I had the thing set up and ready to go.  

The storm still was not upon us.  

I called my mother.  I was going to go over and have dinner with her.  It did not seem as though I would need to stay with her for the night, however, as not much was happening.  The radar showed all the bands of wind and rain missing us.  

"I'm going to the grocers.  What do you want for dinner?"

"Just get something prepared."

"I don't know what will be open.  Do you want me to get a frozen pizza?"

"Sure.  That will be fine."

I took my new camera with me.  It was light, much lighter than any of my other cameras.  And it focussed quickly.  Oh, hell yea--I'd keep this camera.  It had a completely different use than my Leicas.  I'd forgotten what autofocus was like.  

I was happy.  

I got to my mother's house around five.  No wind, no rain.  I no longer have cable t.v., so I had not seen any of the Weather Channel or local station coverage of Helene.  My mother had it on.  Holy mother of god. . . all I wanted to know was what the weather would be like in my own hometown, but that was hardly possible.  On the Weather Channel, men and women stood outside in different cities on the coast pointing out the water on the ground or a loose palm frond blowing across the sidewalk.   

"As you can see here. . . can we just pan the camera this way. . . as you can see, there are branches that have fallen from the trees. . . can we zoom in?"

The man or woman would be pointing to a branch on the ground.  

"I talked to some of the neighbors who say that they are staying put.  Let's go to that report."

Then, for unending minutes, we could watch neighbors telling us they were staying put.  

I was losing my mind.  

I stuck the frozen pizza in the oven and set it to 425 degrees.  I watched the heating elements light up.  In about ten minutes, I went to check on the pizza.  The oven was barely warm.  The elements were not heating.  I futzed around with different settings for half an hour.  The oven never got more than a little warm.  

We ended up putting the pizza in a toaster oven.  It burned.  We ate it.  

"This is awful."

"Yea."  

We took our drinks outside to sit and watch the weather.  Around seven, I got up to leave.  

"You're not spending the night?!" asked my mother in surprise.  

"No.  I don't think it is going to get that bad.  I'd have to pack up a lot of stuff to come over for the night."

My heart sunk.  I didn't know she thought I was staying.  She looked very disappointed.  

"I'll go home and get my stuff if you want."

"No. . . no. . . it's alright."

When I got home, I poured a drink, lit a cheroot, and went to the deck.  I'd not seen the cat all day.  She was certainly holed up somewhere.  Just then, the wind began to grow.  Suddenly, gusts were shaking the large branches of the tree just above me, each coming gust stronger than the last.  No rain, just wind.  I looked at the weather app on my phone.  Radar showed the bands that would be hitting town, strong gusts of over 55 mph.  That was not so dangerous, but it could drop branches.  

What could I do?  I called my mother to tell her that the weather on the coast where Skylar lived was not as bad as The Weather Channel reported.  Indeed, earlier in the day, I had gotten a call from someone in the north wanting to know how bad it was.  

"We've been watching The Weather Channel and it looked like your whole state was underwater!"

Mom laughed and said everything was fine.  Just then, my power went off and came back on.  Then again, a longer darkness.  

"Holy smokes. . . the lights are flickering.  I may be back over there before the night is through."

I turned on television and was able to get some weather updates off YouTube.  It was nine o'clock.  I turned on one of "my shows," and watched for awhile.  The wind was blowing, but there was nothing to be done, and I went to bed.  

The sun is just coming up now, so I will step outside to take a look.  

* * *

Many small and and slightly larger branches litter my yard, but nothing more than that.  It will take a couple hours to clean it up, but we were really lucky.  The air is heavy, hot, and humid, unreal and unpleasant, though.  It certainly feels odd, nothing close to normal.  They say it will clear by this evening.  

I had a good bit of anxiety yesterday with all the waiting, and though I can't say why, anxiety lingers.  I do not like inclement weather.  I am ready for clear blue skies.  I feel deeply for those who took the brunt of the storm.  This shit is no fun, and much of the damage people sustained will not be covered by insurance.  I know how that is.  It is a terrible thing.  One feels hopeless in wreckage after the storm.  

So. . . I won't end on a jolly note.  I am not one who can be happy when other people are suffering.  Here's hoping, though, that you were lucky, too.