10:27 PM Tuesday night
Wind is light out of the North and there are a billion bright stars shining down on us.
Well, where to begin. It seems the last 48 hours have lasted even longer than the first 48 hours while Wilma was beating us into submission! We gave up a long time ago but she just kept on throwing punches. Where was the referee on this match anyway? So much has transpired! Encarna and I have gone through just about every emotion you can think of. We have laughed, and cried and yelled and fallen apart to the point where we thought we could not go on.
The biggest thing right now is the exhaustion. We have done so much physical labor that we have called the “The Wilma Diet Plan”. All the ladies in the states should try it. It is guaranteed to leave you trim and fit. It started during the storm when we could only sleep a few hours if that. Combine that with nervous, scared, panicked anxiety that keeps your stomach from sending hunger pains and the constant running around moping up and saving valuables and “Voila”, you just lost an inch around the waist!
So on Sunday we take a little hike up north to check on friends and loved ones that are isolated from town. We can’t take the car because there is this little lake we have to cross. The lake is 2-4 feet deep and it is about 1 km long. If ya throw in the fact that the crocodiles are known to frequent the area the journey becomes very exciting. We did not see the crocs. nor feel them beneath our feet, but the smell of that water made up for it. Pewww...
So after 2 hours travel time pushing our bicycles we made it to the first house (La Golondrina) we were looking for. It was a long trek and we were beat. We arrive to find the house is hurt badly but in better shape than the other four neighbors which were basically gutted. No one was staying in any of these places as they had all been boarded up and evacuated long before our visit from Wilma. La Golondrina is about 150 feet from the ocean without any protection except the storm shutters so we had expected the worst. It is a 2 story town house that had a beautiful garden and a spectacular view. We arrived to find that the house was largely in tact. The storm shutters were all good except for the main sliding glass doors on the bottom floor. They were gone and the glass doors were broken down. The other problem which the storm shutters had no protection for was that the neighborhood was under 3 feet of water which meant the house was really wet. I suppose underwater would be a better description. It was so wet that there were fish and crabs swimming around in the living room and kitchen. The back door was pushed in and water was trickling through into the kitchen and seeping up from the drains. Our first concern was to get the water level down but that would mean draining the whole neighborhood. We did not have any pumps or generators but we did find a pick and shovel that the owner Lyle, had in his wonderful tool supply. During the storm a huge pile of sand and seaweed and debris had piled up and made a damn just outside the sliding glass doors. It was 7 ft high 15 ft wide and stretched across all the yards for about 200 ft. This damn damn was now blocking the water from returning to the ocean. The water was going to need some help. So we cut a canal about 12 feet long and 7 feet deep through the damn of debris so the water could escape. As the water cut through it made the canal larger and larger and we helped it by trimming along the sides to widen the ditch. Within 2 hours we had a pretty good canal going and the pressure of the water was helping cut through even faster. Now this canal cutting is hard work. In fact we both were completely exhausted with blistered hands and soggy feet but it was worth it. Now the fish and crabs had a path and most of them took advantage of it and headed back to sea.
We were tired and it was late but we had to check on Nicole and guests at Casa Viento before night fall. She was just up the street and when we arrived we were greeted with open arms. We were the first visitors they had seen since before Wilma. They weathered (all pun intended) the storm well and were in good spirits with a lot of work ahead of them. Nicole said they saw the eye for almost 2 hours and have video and pictures of it. We exchanged stories and information on how the island had fared and what was going on but it was getting dark and we needed to return soon.
When we got back to Golondrina we decided it was too late to return through the lake zone so we stayed at Golondrina for the night. Sandy and Lyle were wonderfully prepared for this event. Lyle was visiting his house but had caught a plane out of here on Wednesday before the storm but he left the place well stocked. We set up for the night with candles and got dinner ready. Pasta and caned tomato sauce never tasted so good. I was exhausted physically and mentally. I had a moment at sunset to walk out to the water and sit down. I had not sat all day. As I sat down on the rocks and looked out across the still angry sea I lost it. I started thinking about the series of events that Encarna and I had been through and I started to cry. It was like a little package of trash I had been storing in my soul had to be taken out. It felt good to get rid of it. I cried hard for about 15 minutes with Encarna by my side. They were the most satisfying tears of my life.
That night we spent drinking good gin and eating like kings. There was a steak in the freezer that was still cold after almost 72 hours. We shared it and loved it. We went to sleep completely spent with candles all around the room and a river going through the kitchen down stares. If it were not for all that was going on it would have been a very romantic evening.
So the “Wilma diet plan” is not an easy automatic diet plan. You can’t just take a pill and expect results. It is a plan that takes many joined events. You need a big hurricane, a beautiful tropical island, a strong sense for preservation and the will to keep going no matter how bad it gets. Make sure you get your doctors permission before starting any diet...
No comments:
Post a Comment