willllllllllllllllllllllllllma!

The wind blew and the rain fell and the wind blew some more but we weathered Wilma just fine.

This morning we went out to the beach which was breathtaking. The wind was still about 50 mph and the gusts sent the sand flying in such sudden sharp whooshes that it stung our faces and arms and legs. It was low tide anyway, but the winds associated with the hurricane had pulled the tide out farther than I have ever seen it. I walked on wet sand that has not been exposed to air in years, probably. The tide was out past the buoys that are meant to mark the end of the “safe zone” for swimmers. The buoys look odd stranded in the wet sand, like fish abandoned by a sudden swell.

The unusually low tide spared fish, we saw none on the sand but we encountered many beds of sand dollars that were quickly drying since they were exposed to the wind and so far from the water. We scooped hundreds up and carried them out to the water. The tide started to come back in but it did not seem to be coming back in fast enough to save the gasping baby sand dollars, some no larger than a nickel. We felt good about the sand dollar rescue, futile as it may seem.

Got home to find the power had gone out. It just came back on (obviously) but wow, did I accomplish a lot in six hours of no electricity:

--Cleaned off my desk and reorganized my bulletin board.
--Composed my “to do” list for the week.
--Wrote a couple of real letters and placed them in the mailbox.
--Walked the dog.
--Dusted the entire house.
--Put three weeks of laundry away.

--Cleared off the bench next to the front door and actually put everything away in its proper place.
--Tried to see if I could make myself look like an Asian girl using every bit of eye make-up I own.
--Decided I will always be the whitest white girl on the plant, which is how my friend Latoya describes me.
--Washed my face after the Guy In The Boxers asked me how I got the black eye.

--Called my mom every hour to announce that I still have no power, hoping for a dinner invitation.
--Gave up when she said “I guess you guys will be eating out tonight, huh? Oh, by the way, Dad and I are leaving for Disney tomorrow. We’ll be back at the end of the week.”
--Thought about how smug my parents are about retirement and disposable income even though they worked hard and earned it.
--Felt like a disgustingly spoiled Boomer.
--Drank three warm diet cokes.
--Walked the dog again.
--Called my brother to tell him Mom and Dad are leaving us no money at all.