Butterfly activity was very busy in my backyard today. Where did they hide during the hurricane?
During the darkest hours during Hurricane Irene's onslaught of our Delaware coast home, one of my Facebook friends sent me a message "Don't worry Ron, the sun will be out tomorrow."
With thoughts of the roof of our house being ripped off by a random tornado or just the simple inconvenience of losing power for hours or days, that message was such a comfort.
Well, I am very happy to say that we made it through Irene with little more damage than some beaten down impatiens plants and a torn tree limb or two. I don't mean to minimize the real damage that was done here, only a few miles away where a house was completely destroyed and fifteen damaged by that random tornado. Aren't those random tornadoes the worst? I say if you're going to have a tornado let's have one that is planned. I mean, REALLY. But I digress.
That simple statement "Don't worry Ron, the sun will be out tomorrow", put the dire situation of the moment into perspective. My way of going into any situation that I know I have no control is with the mindset of "Let me just GET THROUGH THIS" and hope for the best". Yes, prepare for the worst but hope for the best.
We got the best out of this situation. I pay no attention to those who are now criticizing the TV coverage and government officials for over hyping the threat of Hurricane Irene. I think the local, state and Federal officials were exactly right in their warnings and the steps they took too prepare the populace for the worst. Sure, most of the TV mob are drama queens. So what? That's the business they're in. The best quote I heard yesterday was from New Jersey Chris Christie. He had just heard that there were still people on the beach on the Jersey Shore sunning and surfing. I quote Governor Christie:
I may have to turn in my Bleeding Heart Ultra Liberal card but I like this man!
Glory be, the sun is out! Just as I had hoped for, after the long, dark, windy, voice, fear filled night that was Hurricane Irene passing though here; the day after is a whole new day. I know, a long sentence but you get the idea of what I'm trying to say.
What a wonderful feeling to feel the warmth of the sun's rays after last night. I can hear the vehicles steaming again down Route 1 to Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Bethany Beach, and Ocean City, Maryland. Now that is a sound I am glad to hear again, life getting back to normal here on the Delmarva peninsula.
In fact, I am so enthused I'm going to go outside right now and do some yard work!
This is a video of Bill and I driving through our neighborhood the morning after Hurricane Irene slammed into us last night. There wasn't too much damage.
We took a drive to the town of Milton (which I may have already posted about) to check our friend's house. It was still standing intact.
We saw some big trees down at one house but the owner was outside walking around with a coffee cup assessing the damage and I didn't have the guts heart to take a picture of his new involuntary landscaping project.
More video to come (now that I know how to upload videos directly to my You Tube account).
All is well here now. Thank goodness! Bill and I took a ride around our development as well as the development next to us. Some major tree damage but otherwise we basically dodged a big one. I didn't even have any roof shingles blow off like I did this past spring during a heavy windstorm.
The windy remnants of Irene are still here, breaking up my too big knock-out rose bushes outside my sunroom windows. They needed trimmed back anyway.
Bill and I ventured out of our development (no, we didn't seek the permission of the AUTHORITIES - hear that Wayne?) and took a drive to the town of Milton to inspect our friend Bob C.'s house to make sure there was no damage (there wasn't). We saw his neighbor M.J. She smiled and waved at us. Life is getting back to normal.
The video posted is of our hungry hummingbirds. Irene totally messed up their food source which is plentiful around the house. I make sure I plant a lot of flowers that are humming bird friendly and they know it. They come back here every summer to lay their eggs and raise their little ones, all the while feeding off of our salvia and impatience plants. Irene's tropical downpour has temporarily cut off that food source for our diminutive avian friends. That's all right, we have plenty of humming bird nectar to supplement their natural food source.
The sun is out but the winds are still blowing, with gusts up to thirty mph. Life is slowly getting back to normal.
Does it feel like a Sunday to you? It doesn't to me either.
Just got back from a quick walking tour of my end of the neighborhood. Wayne, call the authorities! I stepped out of my house! Wayne (aka "The Cajun") is my friend who lives in Rehoboth who got his panties all twisted into a knot because I took a ride into Rehoboth Beach early yesterday morning BEFORE THE STORM and took some videos.
The winds have died down considerably but are still here and there is a light rain falling.
There wasn't too much damage in the neighborhood. My neighbor Barbara's cherry tree looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa now after Irene's visit. My neighbors the Hughes' flowering plum tree has a big branch sheared off the bottom. It probably need to be trimmed anyway, Mother Nature took care of it for them.
At the end of the development, the large sand bed which I cross over into the neighboring Oyster Rocks development for my daily walk, is now covered with water. It is quite the lovely pond now. My neighbor Alan and his wife Reggie, who just sold their house because they wanted a "water view" down on Rehoboth Bay, now have there "water view" right here in our development. If you look closely at the video you can see wood ducks paddling at the far right end of the "pond."
I'm going to take it easy today. Update my Find a Grave account, Ancestry.com and check my Facebook and e-mails to see what is going on outside of my little universe here.
I am so thankful we didn't lose power. At least we haven't lost power...yet.
The worst is over (I hope). I awoke this morning at 4:23 a.m. exhausted. Yes, exhausted. Not because I was outside in the sturm und drang of Hurricane Irene but because I was worried about a tornado hitting our house. As I reported in my previous blog posting, a tornado did hit in nearby Lewes, totally destroying one house and damaging fifteen others.
I haven't got out and assessed the damage in our neighborhood here but I do see my neighbor Barbara's beloved cherry tree listing at a 45 degree angle. Of course my beloved impatience are gone which I fully expected to happen with the deluge of water that was dumped on us yesterday by her highness Hurricane Irene. However, I usually lose those impatience anyway during a heavy thunderstorm which happens almost every summer so no big loss there. I will miss the that riot of color in the front of our house.
We didn't lose power! Of that I am so thankful for. Wow. I did lose my satellite TV for several hours because of the heavy cloud cover and rains but that was also to be expected. My satellite TV reception is back now and the news is all about New York and its environs which are about to be smacked in the face my Irene in a few hours.
We still have winds around here but nothing like those sustained winds we had yesterday for about twelve hours. Man did that ever get old after the first ten hours or so. The winds began about two in the afternoon and kept up until I went to bed at about 11:30. I woke up at about 2 am. I think that is when the roaring winds finally stopped. Oh how sweet that silence was.
I'm still keeping the bathtubs full of water just in case Tidewater (our water supply company) decides to turn off the main water supply. We got a TON of water yesterday from Irene. The retention pond at the end of our development, which has been a dry desert bed all summer, is now a beautiful pond. My neighbors at the end of our development now have their much desired "water view."
I have a headache and am still exhausted by all the drama of the past twenty four hours but I am so thankful that we survived intact from this latest calling card from Mother Nature.
Note: the video on this blog was taken this morning of the many humming birds that are now feeding at our humming bird feeder. Their main source of food was cut off during Irene's onslaught. You should have seen them fighting for position at the feeder yesterday during the height of the storm yesterday, the poor things. I'm glad we have something out there for them to sustain them during this period of need for them. Not only people and pets need help during the storm, the humming birds need a little helping hand.
Just got the news that a tornado touched ground and totally destroyed a house in Lewes and damaged fifteen others! The house was located off of New Road, two miles from where I live and my route to work. Too close for comfort!
It's been raining here hard with the winds since two this afternoon. It's still raining hard with a few brief lulls and it is 10:15 PM now. I'm afraid to go to sleep for fear of a tornado tearing the roof off of my house.
I was just talking to my friend Larry in Claymont (upstate Delaware) on FaceTime and he started to hear transformers pop. Sure enough, after about the third pop I lost him.
I've been checking the hurricane storm tracker on Weather.com but it seems that it's stuck right over where we live for the last four hours!
The winds are really picking up now and the lights are flickering. I better post this before I lose power.
Just got a call from my neighbor Barb. She said that Ocean City, MD turned off their water treatment plant. You know what that means, fill up the bathtubs! I don't want to be stuck not being able to flush the toilet.
The rain has been coming down for about five hours now. I just got up from my afternoon nap (a very nice nap by the way with the rain falling outside). We're expecting the full brunt of Irene in about eight hour or 2 a.m. this morning. I wonder if I'll be able to sleep tonight as well as I did this afternoon.
We have a lot of water outside but I've seen worse during several nor'easters that have blown through here since we moved here in November of 2006. The wind is buffeting the side of the house now. If I told you I wasn't afraid I would be lying. This is NO FUN, believe me. Thank God I haven't heard anything more about a tornado for our area.
It is now official, Rehoboth Avenue is closed. If you manage to go in, they won't let you out. It's a good thing Bill and I went early this morning for me to take my videos.
Just think, a Saturday afternoon in August on the main drag in Rehoboth and you can't get out. Hey, that's what it was like the last time I was in on a weekend day, I couldn't get out.
Hurricane Irene isn't expected to hit us here on the east coast of the Delmarva peninsula but as you can see by the video, her rains have already arrived. As I expected, the heavy rains are beating down my impatiens flowers. Oh well, it happens every summer. At least we enjoyed them for about a week after the summer long heat wave subsided about a week ago.
Look at the water that accumulates on the road out in front of our driveway, that's my worry. During just a regular rainstorm we have a small pond out there. I can't imagine what six hours or more of heavy rain will do to our little "pond" at the entrance to our driveway.
A friend just called from Pennsylvania. He told me he heard on the news there was a tornado warning for the Milton area of Sussex County. Oh wonderful, that's what we need now in addition to the oncoming tornado, possible floods and almost certain loss of power.
It's about time for my afternoon nap. I'm hoping when I wake up all this has passed our little niche on the east coast of southern Delaware.
Bill and I take a ride to Rehoboth Beach, which is six miles down the road from where we live north of Rehoboth. I want to take some videos of the once in a lifetime event of a deserted Rehoboth Beach on an August Saturday morning. I wasn't disappointed as the following videos will show. To listen to me talking on the videos, turn off the music on this blog by pushing the Pause button.
We continue our ride into Rehoboth this morning as the darkness recedes.
Now we are about to enter Rehoboth Beach.
We drive down a deserted Rehoboth Avenue, the main drag in Rehoboth Beach. Normally on a late August Saturday morning like this morning, this road would be clogged with vehicles and people and bikes.
I get out of our Jeep and walk to the Atlantic Ocean in Rehoboth. Already the waves ares starting to swell up and a light rain falls.
Walking down a deserted Rehoboth Avenue this rain and wind sweated August Saturday morning in Rehoboth Beach Delaware.
Bill and I "get out of Dodge" and head back home before the rains really start to come down.
We continue on north on Rt. 1 to our home.
The rain is picking up now as we head home to safety.
We take a ride down Oyster Rocks Road to the Broadkill River, which is the closest body of water to us.
There isn't any development at the end of Oyster Rocks Road because it is a marshland. However, across the marshland you can see the million dollar house waiting for Irene this evening. I wonder if they will be standing tomorrow.
Here we sit awaiting Irene. If I didn't tell you that I hope that all the weather forecasters were wrong, I would be lying. I have butterflies in my stomach right now because I don't know what to expect. Well actually I sort of know what to expect, a nor'easter of the likes of which I never experienced before.
I just came back from my early evening walk in the Oyster Rocks development behind the development where I live. The sun was just setting. I took several pictures with my iPhone some of which are on this posting.
There was an eerie calm in the development. Usually on a late, summer August evening such as this some of the folks back there would be cooking out on their barbecue. The happy sounds of relatives and/or friends visiting to take advantage of the last days of summer. No such late summer evening activity this evening among my neighbors in Oyster Rocks. All was quiet except for a long doggie yapping at me from someone's back deck. A sadness created over me. I almost feel like we're waiting to be punished for something.
I could hear the cars on Route 1 streaming north. So unusual because on other summer Friday nights there is almost an unbroken line of traffic streaming south to Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, Bethaney Beach and points south like Ocean City Maryland. However, since Delaware governor Markel declared a mandatory evacuation of all shore points within 3/4 a mile of inland bays, canals and the Atlantic Ocean; the only activity is the steady stream of cars, vans, and travel trailers. One interesting omission in the travel vehicles is the absence of motor cycles. Usually we hear many motorcycles roaring down Rt. 1 to points south during these late summer days. No rude motorcycle racket this summer evening.
Bill helped our neighbors get their generator started. Ours is working and ready to go if when the power goes out. We're ready to hunker down and ride this baby out.
Sunny days are forecast for all next week. We will get there. We just have to go through this drama first.
Just before the sun set the sky was ablaze with this arrow pointed at my neighbor's house.
We await Irene. The weather today is deceptively calm. I guess you could really say this is "the calm before the storm."
I took this video a few hours ago to show what my lovely impatiens look like. This flowers will be no more after Irene arrives.
I just heard on the news that Mayor Bloomberg ordered a mandatory evacuation of all lower areas of New York City. Delaware governor Markel has ordered mandatory evacuation of all areas of coastal Delaware. Guess what folks? That's where we live. We're staying here. Bill says if it gets too bad we can always get in our car for protection.
Bill and I dragged the generator from our shed, down through our grass to the garage. Bill revved it up. It's working. We'll have enough backup power to keep our refrigerators and freezers going. That's all we need. It would be nice if we don't lose power but I fully expect to lose power.
And here I thought I was going to have a nice quiet weekend. The laugh is on me and about fifty million other residents of the Eastern seaboard who are in the path of Hurricane Irene.
The video I have posted I took a few hours ago of the steady stream of traffic going north on Route 1. Normally on a summer Friday morning such as this, the steady stream of traffic would be traveling SOUTH on Route 1. However, since governor Markel has declared a state of emergency and mandatory evacuation of Ocean City, Maryland; Rehoboth Beach, Bethaney Beach, Dewey Beach and Lewes, Delaware many are headed north.....to what? Dry land? I don't think so.
Hurricane Irene storm path up the east coast
Bill and I are going to tough it out here in Casa Tipton-Kelly, 2 miles east of the water. Yes, we are east of Route 1 which is a bad sign but we're not "on the water." Those who are "on the water" will probably be "under the water" come this Sunday. I feel bad for my neighbor Alan who is moved to a house right on Rehoboth Bay. Oh man, I stayed there once about five years ago and during a nor'easter the house I was housesitting in was SURROUNDED BY WATER! I called the gals who I was housesitting for (they were luxuriating in the mild climes of Florida that January) and expressed my concern that me and their cat would be up on the roof of the house if the water came up much further. They told me not to worry, "it always does that." They were right, the house wasn't flooded. By the way I was housesitting because the previous year their house was flooded but by a faulty washing machine hose. One thing good came out of that experience, I learned that while living "on the water" gives you nice views, there are downsides.
Delaware braces for unprecedented storm
So this morning Bill and I made a run to our friend's house in Milton and closed his attic windows. Six to twelve inches of rain are forecast. We stopped at Ace Hardware to get some batteries for our flashlights for when the power goes out and it WILL GO OUT. I have no doubt of that fact.
As you would guess I wasn't the only one with the idea to get fresh batteries. I got some but the selection was slim to none. There wasn't much comfort in the fact that I wasn't the only long faced customer in the store looking in vain to replace my weak and dead batteries.
Delaware Governor orders residents and tourists to evacuate - we're staying here
Once we got home Bill had me help him drag the generator out of the shed. We did have wheels on it but who knows where they are now. So here is the picture of two OLD MEN dragging a generator over about an acre of lawn to our garage. After a lot of huffing and puffing we got it there. I was worried about scaring the lawn. I shouldn't have worried, all the dragging did was pull up some more wire grass.
The next item on the Emergency Agenda was to gather all my important papers in case we have to Get Out Of Dodge ourselves. We don't plan to go anywhere. Where would we go? A shelter? I don't think so. Now I know why other folks are reluctant to leave their homes when disaster approaches. I'm telling you, this is scary man. Seriously, it is scary.
Looking ugly
Then I gathered up my old photo albums that I have in our FINISHED BASEMENT. Oh yes, it's all finished. Wall to wall Berber carpeting. With six to twelve inches of rain forecast to fall in a short period of time some of that wet stuff may find it's way into our basement even though we have a drainage system outside the door.
I'm getting depressed talking about all this. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to keep blogging about this impending disaster. I'll keep at it until the power goes out.
I was so hoping for a nice, quiet week to sitting at my computer and posting those six hundred or so pictures I took of graves to my Find a Grave account. I took those pictures this past Wednesday during our Pennsylvania Excursion. Originally we were going to go up to Pennsylvania this Sunday. Can you imagine? I don't like to drive in rain as it is, I've never driven in a hurricane and I don't intend to.
I hear this is a Once in a Hundred Years Hurricane that is about to hit the Delmarva peninsula (that's where we live folks). I was sort of hoping I would be long gone when the Big One hit. Looks like that's not going to happen.
Yes folks, I'm right in the path of the biggest hurricane to hit the Delmarva peninsula in decades. Oh joy. This is supposed to be the biggiest hurricane to hit the east coast since Hurricane Hazel in October of 1954, 57 years ago. I remember Hurricane Hazel. I was just a young lad of 11 years old but it scared the bejuses out of me. I was sort of hoping I wouldn't go through something like that again in my lifetime.
So here I sit at work, for once wishing I lived in Phoenix, Arizona. Most of the hotel guests have cancelled their reservations for the weekend or left early today. We have a few guests left in the hotel but as the one guest told me when I informed him of the dire situation approaching us this weekend, "Where am I going to go? We live in New York."
Ocean City, which is about 25 miles down the road, has a mandatory evacuation order. We, here on the east cost of Sussex County have a voluntary evacuation order. Bill and I are sticking it out in our house, which is on the east side of Route 1, two miles from the beach. We have a basement.
My last big Hurricane Experience was Hurricane Floyd in September of 1998. I was working at a hotel then too. Because of my extraordinary effort in getting to the hotel (The Hampton Inn in Lionville, PA) and keeping it running and the guests calmed (yes, I'm bragging) during that natural disaster the Hilton Hotel corporation awarded me a "Best Guest Service Representative" award which was a trip for two to Disneyworld for four days.
I hope this one passes us by, I've already been to Disneyworld.
