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Vieques- August Hurricane Irene 2011 NEW
Living and Working in Vieques..
Living And Working…..
-- It's very dark, no moon,, it's dark the way it is in a movie when danger is lurking. The ambient sounds are louder and more sharp than usual; the rustle of leaves, the howl of dogs and the scared purring of cats, all of them sound as if they too are alert to some menace. Flashlight in hand, you snuggle under the covers, the one dim light your only defense against pitch blackness.
You wait. You listen for a change in sounds, wonder if it is safe to take a sleeping pill, or if you will then be too drugged to act if something is needed, What could you do? You're old, now, not like the early days, ten years or so ago, when Hurricane George ripped through your French doors and unbelievably you managed to hoist a futon with both hands and ram it shut. What a thing that was, a story to dine off for years, and more, a certain pride you had saved your home.
Now, much older, weaker, although oddly less scared. And this time, much more prepared. Everything moved inside, new windows, installed a few weeks ago, will either hold or not, but so much better than the wooden shutters which adorned the house for over twenty years.
This one starts, the early storm, around 4 p.m. Very soon, the lights go, and that is a bummer because more than anything I would like to watch TV. Only TV can save me from the inevitable reminiscences the night will bring, as I lie there, dim flashlight in hand, second flashlight at the ready in case of failure, thinking about the last time I saw him, about my children and their children, the cost of damage to the house, was it wise not to take insurance (yes), will the windows hold, will the walls cave, how much water will flow in under the doors, - wait! That's lightening, first a flash of sharp light outside, and then BOOM! Oh my, surely some trees were crushed by that. With that first sense of trees being crushed, I feel crushed myself.
What have I accomplished in this life, now to be torn apart by some random hurricane? Where are my friends, my family, the strangers to whom I fed quarters and pieces of torn bread? Where is everybody? Why am I left alone cowering in my bedroom on some strange island no one but a hundred people ever even heard of? And why in hell couldn't there at least be some TV?
Now it's quiet. Very quiet. the rain sounds like ordinary Caribbean rain, soft and pleasurable - what a deceptive bitch she is. Soon, once again, the lightening and now the ear splitting thunder and then, then the full force of the wind, although it does not rock the house it certainly rocks one's world.
On and on and On....that wind, uprooting trees, plucking leaves off branches, destroying the weakest of the houses (no wooden houses left after Hugo anyway) I just had my small plot landscaped, what will happen now to those small growing plants so carefully laid out by Scott.
No sleep, not possible. Maybe try some earplugs, but shouldn't I be aware of everything. what if I'm needed. Needed? I see how ridiculous this is, what could I be needed for? My one act of bravery (the closing of those french doors) will have to do for a lifetime.
Still, there is something that keeps me from drugging myself or shutting out the noise, something that wants this to be over but wants to live through every second of it. I think of my friends in new York, truly snug in their safe beds and in a way i am sorry for them. there is a popular theory that to be happy one must experience misery, to be safe, one must experience fear. Along those lines, I confess I feel superior. Rain, wet, unceasing patter.....
Uh oh, slightly abashed, I awake releasing that I have in fact fallen asleep. It is darkish outside, raining, windy, but not hurricane like. It's over.
I'm very lucky, some trees down, but no water in the house except for a leak, even the plants seems to have withstood it, more or less.
It feels like an anti-climax, while I slept the worst of it happened. No one needed me, No one at all.
Sheila
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Webmaster's Note * Sheila has many hats and is also a published author Her first book was "Simple Truths". She has asked that I put a short story she has written and I enjoyed it a lot, even though it has nothing to do with Vieques. You can download "Knowing" by right clicking on the link.
She is also the owner of Vieques Fine Properties.
Sheila can be reached for a brochure through her web page at http://www.viequesfineproperties.com