'Twas the night before Wilma, when all through the state
Not a gas pump was pumping, Not a store open late
All the plywood was hung, on the windows with care,
Knowing that a hurricane, Soon would be there
The children were ready with their flashlight in hand
While rain bands from the hurricane covered over our land
And Mom with her Mag-lite, and me and my cap
Had just filled the bathtub for flushing our crap..
When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter
I sprang from the closet to see what was the matter
The trees on the terrace, and the neighbor's roof torn,
We feared we'd be dying in this terrible storm.
With a little wind gust, so lively and quick,
I remembered quite clearly our walls were not brick
More rapid than Eagles, her courses they changed!
And she whistled and wafted and surged all the same.
Off shingles! Off sidings! Off rooftops! Off power!
Down trees! Down fences! Down trailers! Down towers!
In the center of Florida, she continued to maul,
Screaming Blow away! Blow away! Blow away all!
As wind ripped and tossed, the debris through the sky,
I peeked out the shutters at the cars floating by.
So go to the safe room my family did do,
With a portable radio and some batteries too.
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the set,
The end was not coming for a few hours yet!
As I calmed down the kids and was turning around
Through the window it came with a huge crashing sound
A tree branch it was all covered in soot
The wind blew it smack-dab on top of my foot!
A bundle of twigs now lay in a stack
And my Living Room looked like it was under attack.
The wind how it howled, the storm very scary,
Myself and my family were all too unwary.
The dangers of hurricanes are serious you know,
They are taken for granted as Frances did show.
With the winds dying down and the danger beneath,
I noticed my tool shed was missing its sheath
So I grabbed my last tarp, and nailed it on down,
Then I got in my car and drove into town.
The traffic was awful and stores had no ice,
My 5-gallon cooler would have to suffice
Generators were scarce, not one left in town,
There were trees on the roads and power lines down.
FEMA was ready with people to work,
Electrical companies came in from New York.
I sprang to the car, and gave my family a whistle,
Then away we all went like a Tomahawk missile!
You could hear us exclaim as we drove out of sight,
"The heck with this place, Vermont seems just right!"
This message was edited Nov 16, 2005 7:52 PM
Twas the Night Before Wilma
Elaine.....
This is Nancy Lee!!!
Pati is patischell
I take this as a very good compliment.. Thank you...BUT non3 will rival Ms. Pati..
LOL
This message was edited Nov 18, 2005 11:49 AM
This message was edited Jun 17, 2006 2:12 PM
Just wanted to bump this considering we have started another season and I think that this is hysterical.
Hap
That is a hoot! Brings back fond memories of whatching rain fall in horizontal sheets while holed up under mattresses in the hallway....or, sitting in an old recliner in the garage with the door open and placing bets on whether the pine tree was gong to fall in my yard or the neighbors. Of course, it also brings back really fond memories of neighbors helping neighbors...the fish fry I had because we had no power and all that fresh bass was going to spoil, so I threw a BYOCS (bring your own chain saw) fish fry...help me cut down my trees and fill up on trout and hushpuppies....I had two double burner coleman stoves going at one time and went through a freezer FULL of fish. Not to mention the big pot of red beans and rice I made prior to the storm hitting, which was used to feed the entire neighborhood for the first day without power. And then there were the looter gaurd duties..."I'll watch your house and protect it from looters if you will pick up a double order of ice and share it with me". One thing about disasters...it tends to bring out the best in some people...and the worst in a few. We rarely spoke to our neighbors except when a storm hit...but we were all there for each other when it did. I still have nightmares about the first hurricane I rode out when I ws a little kid. It didn't bother me seeing the huge old oak tree lyng on the roof of my grandparents cottage....nor did it bother me to see the roof of the house on the corner lying in the intersection or the live power linesnapping around on the ground. The thing that stuck with me, and still haunts my nightmares is going down to the beach steps and looking down the cliff where it normally had a good 50 yards or so of sugar white beach before the water turned that beautiful sea green....and instead looking straight down where the stairs used to be and seeing water that was a good 20 feet deep...jet black, opaque, and swirling in an almost malignant way...as if it were waiting for me to lose my footing and fall in and be swept out to sea.
I've seen a lot worse since that day....but I guess because I was so young and the cottage had always been a happy place, it was just terrifying. Albeit not as terrifyng as being 8 1/2 months pregnant and unable to evacuate and being afraid you would not be able to get to the hopstial and afaid you would go into labor, but the hospital would not take you because the doctor had miscalculated your due date by a month....or sitting in the house listening to the roof joists groaning and fearing that it would fly off at any moment and you would be sucked up into the storm. But those things don't haunt me like seeing that water waiting for me, lapping at the steps where I stood as if it were reaching for me..teasing me. Having a fertile imagination can be a curse....but it is also a blessing.
WOW....That's some tale and so lovely written. I enjoyed reading it, but I sure wouldn't want to have lived it.
Thanks BB.
Hap