Hello, Dorian!

As we waited in our Palm Bay hotel for the closing date on our new home, the news started warning about Hurricane Dorian, headed straight for us! We were several days out from getting the keys to the new house and Dorian was all that we heard on the news. Storm warnings, evacuation warnings, people flocking to the Walmart and Home Depot to get ready.

We weren’t too worried. After all, our house was made of concrete, had a new roof, and a built-in industrial generator, a well, a septic. We could just hunker down and ride it out. So we tried to ignore the drama as best we could.

Then the movers called to tell us they couldn’t come until after the storm. They claimed there was no gas to be had in Florida. Now, I had been out and about, and the gas stations weren’t THAT crazy. But they wouldn’t budge. So, with the storm coming and no furniture, I went down to the front desk to see if we could extend our stay. Nope. Everyone from the beach areas had already booked all the local hotels. We were going to have to camp in our new, empty house. Dorian was about 3 days out.

Mom tells me she can sleep in the car, we just put it in the garage. I tell her ‘no, my almost 90 year old mom with a past broken hip is not sleeping in the car’! And I didn’t relish the idea, either. So after we got the keys to the house I went online hunting for any place that would deliver a bed. Nobody was too interested, everyone was backed up and in Dorian panic. So I found a store where I could buy one and haul it myself. The guy helped me load it, and it stuck way out the back of my vehicle… but I got it home. I was also able to get a bed through Amazon, not the greatest, but it was good enough for me and delivered the next day. So we had beds. I also hit Walmart, picked up a few dishes, and I had ordered a few things on Amazon when I saw what was coming.

So we got our basics, a couple bar stools and beds, dishes, pots and pans. Our real estate agent was nice enough to come over and help me with the storm shutters, since I had never had those before. He put on the ones I couldn’t do, and brought me the necessary wingnuts, which were missing.

We were directly in the path…

Meanwhile, we had no television, of course, but we saw on Facebook and news online that Dorian was coming directly for us! So we hunkered down and waited. I got my laptop set up and worked on my next book. Watched the news online. Got lots of notes from concerned friends and former neighbors. And waited. The storm stalled out, then stalled some more. Then began the slow march to Florida east coast. And then…nothing. We did have some wind and rain one night. It was very anti-climactic.

Now, I’m not complaining that we didn’t get nailed. And I actually did kind of enjoy the whole camping thing, for a few days, in a new house. I got a lot of writing done. But it was a very interesting introduction to Florida living, to say the least!

The movers did eventually come. And we had too much stuff. My mom couldn’t even go into her sewing room once all her ‘quilt crap’ was piled in there. So the settling in took months, after all that, and we still have a few tubs in the garage of things we just don’t have space for. We’ll deal with that. Some day.