Hurricane Gustav

Sunday night, August 31, 2008:

With a lot of trepidation, Darlene and I boarded the plane Sunday morning in Baton Rouge, headed for Maui. Friday and Saturday, we had made plans for the possibility of Hurricane Gustav hitting our home in southeast Louisiana. We had made plans to fly to Hawaii for several months now but as time approached and with all the news of an impending storm, we found ourselves packing up and leaving with mixed emotions.

Two years ago, we were on Maui when the earthquake happened. It was a first for both of us. Darlene was still in bed when the thing began to shake the condo while I was downstairs watching the chandelier sway.After the third time she had warned me to "quit shaking the bed", she realized it was a quake and when it was over, she ran to the loft balcony, looked down at me still in a state of shock and exclaimed, "Was that a ....... hurricane !!!?"

Two weeks ago, I was riding out tropical storm Fay in St Augustine, Florida and it was a nuisance but Gustav is a storm to be reckoned with. Any many ways it might be as devastating as Katrina.

As I sit here in Kihei, Maui, HI, I somehow wish I were there to ride out the storm with my kids and to watch over our own home. Hopefully there will be a home to return to. We shall see how it all unfolds in the next 24 hours.

A whole month off

Monday, home office told me they had no place to send me just for a week because I had a 3 week vacation coming up and they didn't want to send me out only to send me home again Friday. So, after major foul ups from the Carlson-Wagonlit Travel/Booking agent and airport delays from Tropical Storm Fay, I finally made it into Baton Rouge around 10 PM Monday night and glad to be there.

A new starter for Boudreau lay on the carport floor and winked at me and called my name as the garage door raised and we drove in. After Darlene left for work Tuesday morning, I had purposed myself to get the new starter installed, get the carport clean and be able to take a late afternoon ride.

As fate would have it, the nice folks at J & P cycles had sent me the wrong starter and poor Boudreau sat all torn apart. The nice lady somewhere in Iowa promised me they would get another right out but there was no chance it would get here before we boarded the plane for Maui Sunday morning.

So, I guess Boudreau will have to weather out Hurricane Gustav with all kinds of little greasy parts lying beneath it with only the companionship of Gary's Sportster while Darlene and I dodge falling coconuts on Maui for the next 3 weeks.

Fay, Fay, go away

She wasn't much of a bona fide Hurricane. Shortly after crossing over the Florida Keys, she hit the mainland again and slowed from a category 1 to a tropical storm. However, even though she wasn't a real hurricane, Fay took a slow methodical path up across the state and back into the Atlantic where she just sat there offshore and churned, and churned and churned. Within a weeks time, she had managed to water the entire state down all the way over to Alabama.

Great job Fay. You managed to disrupt business and lives for a week.

Finally, Friday afternoon life began to get back to normal for the northeast corner of the state and the tourists began to show up again by Saturday. Sunday was the first full day of normal August sun and the beach once again had volleyball, sun bathers and surfers.

I'll be wrapping up in St Augustine (3 1/2 months) and probably Monday or Tuesday, I will be looking for an airplane to either get back home for a long awaited vacation back on Maui again.

Five Seconds

Five seconds; not long is it?

In my hotel room, I was watching the Will Smith movie, Legend. There was very little light except for the glow from the laptop screen and just a narrow shaft of light that made it's way across the bed through the partially drawn curtains. The air conditioner was set low and the air was crisp. Condensation had formed droplets of water on the outside of the single large pane causing an eery distortion that prevented clear vision through the haze and I could see no defined objects, buildings or trees.

With the light green glow of a street light filtering through the window, in that short moment, probably five seconds, I struggled mentally just to remember where I was. Where was I? Hawaii? Minnesota? California,? Winter? Summer? No, St Augustine, Florida in mid August, but for five very long seconds I was disoriented and had no clue. Five seconds to decide if I was in familiar surroundings; five seconds to determine if I was safe, well, in a welcomed place or even what planet I was on.

Five seconds is a long time.