What my first tropical storm on STX has taught me

Yes, I'm the one who wrote about what 2 months living on STX has taught me. Well, now I've experienced my first heavy tropical storm, and learned more about the reality of living here. BTW, I get on the plane (or do I) in one week.

I've enjoyed the rain storms here, especially the ones with a little ligthening & thunder to remind me of my roots in WI long ago. I've been a San Diego resident for over 25 yrs now & we get a little rain (maybe) in the winter, then none for most of the yr. So the short rains almost every day here have been a treat. But was Irene a treat? Not exactly!

When the afternoon storm hit hard I thought, wow, that's a lot of rain & wind, & went out to take some pictures at Cane Bay. Part of me still said "cool!" The power was already out at my cottage (had been since noon) & I thought ok, I can deal with this. I ran to K-Mart before the curfew I had just heard about on the car radio & stocked up on necessities: candles & matches, munchies, a couple of cans of food I could eat without heating, & a bottle of coconut rum. I figured that would get me through the night just fine, curled up in my little cottage with a good book.

However, when the REAL storm hit later in the evening, I was no longer saying "cool!" It was more like OMG those trees are laying flat, the wind sounds like a freight train, the rain is so heavy I can hardly see out the window.When I opened the door a bit, I was hit so hard by the wind, that I was literally shoved back in & realized I was definintely not in charge any more. I thought I could hang in ok, afterall I had my candles & my munchies & my rum. But when I heard a loud crash in my bedroom & went running in to see the window laying across my bed & the wind & rain blowing all over, I wasn't so sure. I eventually battled the window back into the frame, at least wedged it enough to stay in somewhat. At that point I was not so much curled up with that book, as huddled up with that bottle! Of course it blew through & by morning all was fine.

Well, except for the fact that there was no power or water or phone. So, here's what Irene taught me:

I am not a very patient person. Once the "this is cool" turns into serious inconvenience, it's more like "are you kidding??" I work from my computer (have been working here the entire time) & of course that was not going to happen; no Internet, no email even on the iphone. But worse was no water. I'm used to a shower in the morning & being to flush my toilet! I tried to be ok with this, thinking it'll be back today.

It's now Tues and I still have no power or water. I've learned to seek out the spots on the island where I can get a connection, which might mean driving to one area for the computer & another for the phone. I'm getting frustrated.

But I have to say, the people here are teaching me not only patience, but ingenuity, and that's the real lesson in this post. When I sent an email to a friend, whining about feeling grimy & being frustrated, she sent back fabulous & funny tips on how to get a shower & wash my hair that I never would've thought of. It was so cool. I joined my landlord's family (who have been incredibly supportive & helpful) in the evening for their regular social event & found a whole room full of people charging their phones & computers & laughing at each others' stories. None of them had power yet & here they were having a good time & keeping each other going. I realized that being forced to go to public places to get online was actually a good thing!

No, I did not enjoy Irene. I'm still not enjoying the lack of power or water. But, I can deal with it because everybody else is too & all I have to do is ask & someone will have a helpful tip on how to get through it or just a sympathetic ear. And I do still have some of that rum!