Hurricane Ian Aftermath

The Dandy Ranch is as Dandy as ever...

Well, that was a big swirling wall of water and wind thing. Hurricane Ian tracked over my parent’s house outside Lakeland, Orlando, and right to the south of us here in Sanford.

But you wouldn’t have known it passed a few miles to our south, looking out the Dandy Ranch windows. Scary.

We only had our power flicker off and on a handful of times. So that was the first hurricane where I never lost power. We are probably attached to a main commercial strip because our neighbors to the North were out, and the street lights one block south from us were out. We have some damage to both of our little fences coming off our neighbors into our yard, but the fences to the west and across the street are blown down. We live on a tiny hill, so standing water only happened at the bottom of our driveway for a little while, even though there was torrential rain for at least 24 hours. About a dozen palm fronds were all over the front yard, but it’s that time of year when they need to come down anyway. Easy pickings for Hurricane Ian.

My parents called at the height of the storm, cracking jokes. We love that. They lost power and were bored without the TV, but I think they are fine. I called again this morning and waiting to hear back. If they are clear to drive around, that’s probably what they are doing.

Our daughter was/is with her mother during all this, and while they also lost power, they also fared well in the storm.

Our fur babies aren’t afraid of storms in general, and I think they loved us being home more than usual. Eli was sick in a very not pleasant way the first night but returned to his usual adorable, sassy, a**hole curmudgeon state yesterday.

During the storm, I worked from home with a bored husband doing all kinds of things around the house. I felt safe just by having him around. It’s a very good feeling.

That said, it’s a weird juxtaposition seeing how well we made it through and seeing allll the devastation around us. It’s heartbreaking to see the flooding and know the waters are still rising in our neck of the woods near the St. Johns river. And the flooding in Orlando was shocking. So while we are grateful for all the positive vibes sent our way, please send some for all those around us who are having a very difficult time right now.

Again, thank you for praying for and/or sending positive vibes. I will start regular postings again tomorrow.