Kicking & Screaming - Part II

Part II:
Here comes the dreaded tropical storm threat. Not a threat to a vacation or a party or anything I had major plans for...but nonetheless, a reminder that summer is coming to an end, and definitely a reminder of how serious a hurricane can really be! Living in the New Orleans area all my life, I know that hurricane season may start on June 1st, but it doesn't really get into full swing until summer is over and school begins. The greatest threat is always August through September. We stock up on our supplies...water, batteries, canned food, gas, etc. It doesn't matter that only one computer model says it's coming straight towards you and all others say something else...sometimes you just get a gut feeling that you'd rather be safe than sorry! If there's one thing I've learned from the boy scouts, it's this: "Be Prepared"! So, needless to say...but I will anyway...the path of Tropical Storm Isaac changes again, with all paths leading toward Louisiana, as everyone else is waiting in long lines for gas and fighting for gallons of water at Wal-Mart, I am sitting on the patio having a margarita and watching my husband smoke a cigar. This is the life! I just wish this "calm before the storm" could last forever.

My sister and her husband decide to come stay with us because they live further south and we have a generator and plenty of supplies (a.k.a. 12 bottles of rum, 6 bottles of wine, 2 fifths of tequila, a case of home-brew beer, and a partridge in a pear tree). The forecast calls for a direct hit by a Category 2, the Governor calls for a state of emergency, and mayors order evacuations for surrounding regions closer to the coast. As the storm draws closer, the party gets started and the forecast actually sounds better. The storm hasn't even developed into a hurricane yet and it may be on a path to shift east, putting us on the weaker side. But no such luck! It remains on the predicted path and as the storm makes landfall, the local weather-celebrity grimly reports that the storm appears to be stationery. To make a long blog shorter...a category 1 Hurricane can be as bad as a 3 or 4 if it doesn't move quickly. We were very fortunate that we didn't lose anything but electricity, water, and sleep for a few days, but others were not so lucky! Family and co-workers were flooded and others are still without power and water. Even as I sit here writing, I feel somewhat guilty because I got a cool shower after cleaning up the debris in the sweltering heat, restocking groceries, and am now having margaritas and watching the LSU game in the air-conditioned "Drunken Parrot Pub" (in my own bar, in my own house).

But I'd like to think that my attitudes and latitudes have changed. I would do it all over again (including the other "big storm" that happened almost exactly 7 years ago), even if I lived on some island, in the threat of some other hurricane or some other disaster...I feel like I would still be PREPARED at least as much as I can be...even if it meant leaving everything behind for safer ground. I also have the common sense to know that not every disaster or situation can be prevented or fully prepared for.

That's why you have to..."Live Like You Were Dying", "Learn to Dance in the Rain", and my personal favorite..."Breath in, Breathe Out, Move On"!