Let The Rain Come Down…

Finally, we are in the midst ofsome rainy days! When I first came to Florida and would see the rain clouds appear I’d say, “Oh, no… not again!”

We came to Florida for the sunshine and, in those early days, lived at the beach. We had no knowledge of the sun being bad for your skin and would take every opportunity to be out and about in our swimsuits, toasting to a slow burn.

Here in Florida, it is all about weather… and whether we stay or go when a hurricane is on the way. We have tolerated a few close calls with hurricanes. During one of them, the seawall at my parents motel broke away and a small whale landed on their property. Because of bad weather again that night, the whale was washed away to a motel a block south of there.

There was a meteorologist who, during our early years in Florida, got his kicks out of following a hurricane. It was fun to watch him. Even if the storm was going away from us, his hand would be on the map leading it straight to our shores.

One year, north of here, the fires were fiercely burning in the Palm Coast area. It was difficult for residents working in Volusia County to get through the official blockade to their homes after work. For days, the skies all around were so smoke filled that when the sun was out it could not be seen except as a harsh gleam on a shiny car.

Then a few years ago, before all the hurricanes, similar fires were burning all over the north end of Volusia County. After many days, when they were contained, the sight of trees (that used to be) had become dirty gnarled fingers pushing through the earth.

Where the face of the earth was drastically changed during the fires, following our “year of hurricane damage,” there were so many roof lines blown away that they were replaced with miles of blue plastic so that when you looked up you saw blue everywhere. Soon the blue roofs were replaced with shingles, but it took a long time for the material and laborers to become available to do the work.

Air, fire, and water. The latter holds great appeal. All this to say: I never dread the rain. I love to see that saving water falling on our land and, where I used to avoid going out in it, I now relish the opportunity. So… let the rain come down!
Kitty Maiden is a staff writer for Seniors Today.