So, I was at the airport, enjoying the best mixed baby green salad of my life, topped with at least 5 dollars worth of perfectly plump walnuts topped with blue cheese, and cranberries, and cucumbers and fresh tomato topped with 2 of the best Shula burgers of my life, topped with carmelized onions and mushrooms..... mixing flavors and textures and condiments, and oh my.... I forgot the side of potatoes....remember I said I'd likely have zero willpower.... fried.... perfectly crisp, topped sometimes with blue cheese and ketchup, sometimes with mayo, sometimes with just ketchup.... playing with flavor and texture combinations, as I said.... ready to weep over the abundance of yummy produce and products available in the States..... when everyone's phones went off bc of a tornado warning. Very alarming, bc dd and sis were preparing to board a small seaplane, and we were going to board a regular flight in a few hours.
This was the beginning of a very confusing 8 hours.
So, I ate myself into what should have been a coma, and still had enough for 2 more meals, when dd's flight was diverted to Miami, and 2 tornadoes popped up almost on top of Fort Lauderdale airport..... we were instructed to get away from the wall to wall windows and run to the inside of the building. I, at one point, was the only person heading INTO the dust storm running down hallways and into my eyes and face as I headed to safety. I was joined by a lovely young woman from Alaska, heading to the ladies room. I joined her while we both marveled at EVERYONE else heading TO the windows. I was reminded of instructing children.... tell them what you want them to do, not what you don't want. DON'T RUN INTO THE Street, and they go right into the street. Every time. That what these travelers were doing..... really.
So, a nice lady from the United counter joined us eventually, and showed us a very frightening picture of one very large, in my opinion, tornado followed by a smaller one..... right at the airport. I think it did damage to Fed Ex trucks, etc..... at one point it felt like we were in the Wizard of Oz... wind wipping things around in the air outside the glass..... all that HUGE wind INSIDE the building where it was supposed to be safe. On reflection, I think I should have helped people with young children and elderly TO safety WITH me. Now I know what I do in that situation. I go to safety, and I follow directions. I bond with like minded people, and hunker down responsibly. I do not run around and play hero.
::nodding::.
Not sure how to feel about it... just information I guess.
Let me get one thing straight... I think Allegient Air has a training issue. I couldn't get a straight answer about flights and delays until we were in the air 5 hours late..... I didn't get home till 2am..... so many laughable contradictions from the Allegient staff....
"First off, your destination airport can't shut down tonight until all flights are in, but if they do, we'll notify you." That kind of stuff, and people were just laughing at that point. It was like a stupid dream.
SO many babies... little girl babies learning to walk in pink tu tus.... chubby little girl baby reminding me of my neice... smiling and laughing and waving.... so cute I wanted to eat her with a spoon. So many little children, and that's all I want to say about that. This was one of the nice things about the wait and day, in general. All the little babies. One of the not so nice things.... seeing people in wheelchairs.... pushed by unsmiling hampered people... sometimes other elderly people, spouses I assume....
I
do
not
want
to
end up
pushing
or
occupying
said
wheelchair.
::Shaking head::.
No. I do not.
I'm grateful to be home. Grateful to wake my sleepy oversleeping children for school. Grateful to clean out the rice maker my oldest let ferment and turn to soup.... grateful to re wash my white comforter that soured in the wash machine, grateful to walk the pug, and check out the lovely moss carpet. I can't believe how it's come together.... except there's so many hours involved... it had to.
There was no choice.
I'm grateful to be home home home home home home home.
::hugging mug of coffee happily to chest::.
Next on list... figuring out sea walls. Mine is crumbling into the Atlantic. I've seen 3 kinds of sea walls... the one I believe I need is the cement kind with knees and fiberglass re bar.... picture a fortress, and you've about got it right I should think.
I have no idea how much that is, but will find out.
Theres a boxed vinyl sea wall, and a corregated one. I have a heavy equipment operator... the one who moved my container, willing to use left over corregated I believe, to do a quick sea wall.... not sure how much, and I see it as likely to erode my beach as it's installed, nad do nothing to retain it during a hurricane as it's unlikely to be driven into anything but sand at that point, and from what I've seen of the material, which honestly, is left overs from a different kind of wall. I guess they can be cut to any length. Will have to see. The Italian neighbor, readying to put in a very long sea wall one lot from me, never showed, and I assume he knew about the weather blowing in and wisely chose not to fly.... we've been supposed to meet for months now. Another missed meeting.
The journey continues, Amazons: )
Lighter
