Strange

Wilma came in as a 3, but because we were north of landfall, we barely had hurricane force winds. Around 5:00 AM, the sound of rain lashing our windows woke us. I refuse to say it sounded like a freight train, everybody uses that tired old simile -- be more creative, people -- however, it did feel like we were riding a freight train. The winds kept the house rocking and bumping for hours. The rest of the day, well after the storm had left the building, we experienced gusts from the cold front that moved in.

Surprisingly enough, it was our family and friends over in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach who got the worst of Wilma. Even though the storm was only a 1, or weak 2 in some areas by the time it arrived, they were much closer to the eye and had pretty heavy damage: roofs peeled back, cars and windows smashed by flying palm fronds, and boats broken loose from moorings, for starters.

The cooler air is such a welcome change. Sarabelle left the house today wearing a long-sleeved, cowl-necked sweater, with a coat of her dad's on top of that. We had a good laugh when we pressed the button on our car's console to check the outside air temperature. It was a frosty 72 degrees. It's all relative.

We headed over to the marina to check on our boat and let out a collective, "Uh oh," when we did not see the T-top bobbing at the dock as we pulled up to our slip. That was followed seconds later by a relieved group, "Whew!" when we discovered the tide was extraordinarily low due to the high winds pushing all the water out of the harbor, and our boat was still there. With wind continuing to blow around 40 MPH, we didn't dare attempt a trip out to the island. We're sure it's fine.

After that, we drove over to the new house, which also survived in perfect condition. We measured, discussed color schemes, and started emptying closets and kitchen cabinets. Oh, yeah, did I tell you the house is completely furnished? Priority number one is to rid ourselves of the serviceable, yet old-ladyish household goods.

School has been cancelled again for tomorrow and with Jorge and Sarabelle heading back to the east coast for the remainder of the week, I will have to take the day off work to stay with the kids. Twist my arm. Gracie, Elle, and I will spend our free time tomorrow establishing a base camp at our new house. It will be a real treat to regain that one and a half hours we've spent in the car each day driving to and from work and school. I'm pretty sure the new neighborhood has DSL, but I'm not so sure we can be hooked up immediately. It may be a few days before I get my connection there up and running.