Marie at 1 Write Way

Interruption of Irregular Programming

Yellow cat superimposed over a bayou scene and a rocky trail.

Some of you may be following Hurricane Idalia. She’s shaping up (and over) to be the first major hurricane to hit the Big Bend area of Florida, where we live. In fact, weather experts are calling it an “unprecedented event.” Tallahassee is a band or two out from the purple in the image below, but close enough in that we are under a hurricane warning.

Thankfully, we live far enough inland that storm surges will not be a problem for us personally. But wind will be.

Am I scared? Yes.

We prepped as much as we can, but I’ve never ridden out a hurricane of this magnitude before so I can only hope we’ve done enough. The cats will be getting anti-anxiety meds with their evening meal to keep them from bouncing off the walls.

Last I heard Idalia should make landfall in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, so I guess I won’t be getting any sleep.

We’ll hunker down and hope that our little piece of property won’t get too torn up. I don’t expect miracles. I do hope this will not be a new normal for Florida. If we had wanted to ride out hurricanes, we would have moved to South Florida or the coast when we came here.

I used to joke that, thanks to climate change, we might eventually have beach front property without ever moving. We’ll see if I still have a sense of humor tomorrow.

Although I’ve been more absent than present on my blog over the last few months, I felt I should come on and say something about Hurricane Idalia. If I’m able to (depending on power outages, of course), I will do what I can to update this post once the wind has settled. That’s one good thing about Idalia, I guess. She’s supposed to move through fast.

See you on the other side of the hurricane!

Yellow cat superimposed over a bayou scene and a rocky trail.
If we live here long enough, Raji might get to enjoy a blue bayou right outside our door.

Marie A Bailey

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38 responses to “Interruption of Irregular Programming”

  2. I’ve been thinking about you all day and wondering whether you’d be in the warning zone. I once tried to sleep through a hurricane (110 mph winds), and guess what. No sleep. At least you’ll all be together.

    Can’t wait to hear you’re okay tomorrow. 🤞

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    • Thank you, Ellen! I hate hurricanes too, but at least they can be tracked and one can prepare. What was really scary here was how so many people were going to be on their own. Shelters in some counties were not going to open because they weren’t built to withstand a major hurricane. I haven’t even read stories yet about the other counties, assuming they will be too sad 😢

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  5. Good luck Marie!   Hope you have camping water jugs to fill now  and propane stove with fuel.  Lived in TX and hated the hurricane drills and discovering that damage to side wall just under roof can do as much damage as losing roof but doesn’t get same help. sigh.   now live in IL and am spinning alpaca to knit into scarf and sweater while trying to get writing shaped up and out.   Hope you find safety and joy in the next week.Cheryl

    After all that, she was surprised to find that she still knew the words to the song in her heart… and she began to sing along.

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    • Thank you, Cheryl! We know to be prepared, although I credit most of that with my husband since he grew up near Miami and lived through hurricanes before 🙂 I sometimes express a desire to move just because of the heat 🥵 Spinning and knitting with alpaca sounds like a dream. That fiber is so soft. Good luck with your writing!

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    • Thanks for reminding me about that 😉 My sense of humor is intact since the worst we suffered was being out of power from 8:30 am to 2:10 am. Previous hurricanes had us out of power a lot longer, so I’m impressed and grateful that the city was so well-prepared. Now I can go back to my normal grousing 😁

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  12. Oh, Marie, you’re in my thoughts and prayers! I’ve never been amid a storm quite like a hurricane. Almost, but not quite. Please stay safe and snuggle up with your kitties. Hope all continues to be well and that not too much damage to your property. Look for to a cheerful and satisfactory update following Idalia’s visit.

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  13. Finger crossed that you and Idalia don’t cross paths. What I know of hurricanes is that the waiting part can be worse than the actual event. Hoping that’s how it goes for you.

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  15. I’m glad for you that it was less intense than anticipated. My brother, who is up near Charleston, SC, said they got more rain and storm surge than they expected but it wasn’t bad there. He’s mad at all the climate change deniers who won’t build a sea wall so he expects his house to be ocean front soon. Take care of you. Only three more months of this hurricane season.

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