Riders on the Storm

Back in 2021, Gayle and I planned a trip to New Orleans and the panhandle of Florida once we were vaccinated and felt we could risk air travel.  We had some fun and beautiful days and then tropical storm Claudette hit the Gulf.  When we were in Florida we stayed inside in the rain most of the time.  We were in a little beach cottage with little to no wifi connection.   When we did venture out down to the beach there were lifeguards driving up and down the beach making sure no one even put a toe into the water.  I thought Gayle might blow away.  This is a photo from 2021, during that trip.

It appears to me that perhaps Gayle and I shouldn't plan beach vacations together.  We woke to the sound of rain pouring down off the carport.  The weather report showed an atmospheric river over the entire state of California.  There are five severe weather alerts for this area on my weather app.  Three of them promised possible threat to property and life.  

We were planning to drive down to the end of the road for lunch at the Pelican Inn.  We had a parking reservation at Muir Woods to go for an ADA hike in the fern canyon in the afternoon.  It was clear that we wouldn't risk either of those excursions.  

As wind whipped around this home, Gayle (the woman from Kansas) was calm.  She read the news, did her Wordle, planned a pizza party for her family for when she gets home, etc.  Susan (the woman from Southern California where most of the time the weather forecaster says, "It's going to be another beautiful day in SoCal.") lost her everliving mind.  I paced the small living room with every gust of wind.  I imagined the pain I would experience when this house plummeted into the sea.  I set up a chair in the tiny hallway next to the bathroom because it had the least windows near me and therefore the least sound of the wind.  That only worked for a little while.  I tried every thing I could think of to calm myself down.  I created a playlist of songs about storms.  But my heart continued to race to the point that I was left exhausted from the physical consequences of terror on my body.  

Finally I wore myself out to the point that I could rest. Gayle and I took naps.  When we awoke the wind had died down.  The forecast showed very little rain in our future.  I started to return to myself and was amazed at how crazy I felt through the wind storm earlier in the day.  

We began to plot our trip out of here tomorrow.  We had to drive through a flooded street to get here.  We hope we can get out without incident.  Gayle flies home to Kansas tomorrow.  I would love to see my son and his fiancee for a quick lunch....that is if Matt tests negative for Covid.  Then I have a long drive home.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Grapevine is open for cars sans chains.  I want to return the rental car tomorrow and stop by and pay my mechanic for fixing my car while I was out of town.

I am just grateful to be alive.