Elevation3

As if moving from California to Florida was not enough of an adrenaline rush, we are now anticipating category 5 hurricane Irma on the coast of Miami. Just prior to this post I typed up a summary of our first month here with the title “Alive” including notes on our first month of this great adventure. Now, I’m laughing, a deep non laugh out loud laugh, about the relativity of what an adventure is for each of us! I can barely remember what exactly I was doing before this hurricane became a serious threat. It was somewhere along the lines of finding a new routine with the girls back to school in their new schools, exploring this area, meeting new friends, organizing our new condo and enjoying the beaches. And definitely, trying to get grounded here. This was my adventure. But for the last 4 days it has been preparing for a hurricane, making choices about our survival plan and managing consistent worry and stress.

Initially I looked up tickets back to SFO because it seemed logical to get away from here and visit our family and friends. I was balking a little at the cost of travel. I waited exactly 4 hours to go forward with securing the tickets and they were sold out. I then decided we’d go to New York. Apparently everyone else had decided that as well. I then figured Austin or Denver would be far enough away and we could visit with friends. No. We then did a search to anywhere in the U.S. and found 2 tickets to SFO out of Panama City, Florida. Cost: quadruple. Meanwhile, we were assessing staying here and talking to long time residents of our condos as well as the Florida coast, loading up on water, food, batteries, more food, more water, and joining the frenzy that has now become the new norm for the time being. It’s full on anticipation energy, worry, prep and constant activity. We’ve received so many well wishes from our friends and family who are concerned and we are so appreciative. We feel held by you all, even as you deal with your own disasters of fire and bad air. Each friend has a plan for us that is as varied as everyone’s plans here in South Florida. Hit the road to Atlanta, drive inland, fly out (sorry, flights full). We have assessed our situation, location and intuition and chosen to stay put in our condo. We have a small place away from windows we will sleep Saturday night and remain Sunday as needed. There are no guarantees, but this is our plan.

Meanwhile, the girls are out of school and busy creating art, making messes, playing, life as usual for them. Rajiv and I are cooking, baking, cleaning prepping. Today is our last day to prep so I’m keeping this short as I need to move things like passports, social security cards and any prized possessions into the washing machine and dryer. The media channels are intense and there is a great blessing in being able to prepare for a disaster, however, the incredible build up and worry is as relentless as the impending disaster and our adrenaline is on overdrive. I’ve always struggled with anticipation energy, so this is definitely an opportunity to observe and practice with all my tools. At present, the girls are painting and making slime, Rajiv is putting the final touches on a large Ziti, Krishna Das is soothing through the Sonos, and I’m publishing my first blog post.

There is nothing like a real approaching cyclone to keep you 100% awake and alive.