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Milton‘s Gone

Milton’s gone and good freaking riddance to it and its feeder bands. The last week has been chaotic for most Floridians as we prepared for the storm. We were all prepared for the storm, whether at home, Goalielocks at UCF, or J and M in Tally. The hubby put up our shutters yesterday meant a great night’s sleep. Thank you complete darkness! Of course, by the time Hurricane Milton landed, most of our action was over. We did have the most incredible, albeit brief sunset. Nevertheless, I’m glad that we were ready. I don’t want to get caught ill-prepared for a major storm. Also, I know it gives our folks, worrying from afar back in our hometown, peace of mind.

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There are a couple of axioms when it comes to hurricane preparation. If you’re fully prepared, the storm will wobble away from you. So be prepared. If you don’t lose power during the storm, you lose it intermittently post-storm (wtf FPL.) Everyone becomes a weather expert. Most are benign, but the ones that smugly downplay the storm are dangerous. I saw a few posts from a friend on Facebook that made me cringe. I don’t know which post was worse, the one making fun of people for preparing or the one stating that yesterday’s tornadoes were akin to what we see in summer storms. They weren’t. Not only were they deadly, but they were strong and in wedge form. Florida doesn’t typically are large, wedge tornadoes.

Unfortunately, one of the large tornadoes that hit Wellington impacted one of our friends. I guess this is why I find the glib posts about the storm and tornadoes so offensive. The storm uprooted people’s lives. Thankfully, our friends are safe and only lost property. Sadly, several confirmed reports of fatalities in St. Lucie County have emerged due to the tornadoes Milton spawned. The last axiom when it comes to hurricanes is probably the most important. The storm can impact you even if you’re not close to the center of the storm. Milton was over a hundred miles offshore in the Gulf when the supercells in the feeder bands spawned a tornado outbreak. But hey, at least it’s over and Milton’s gone!

What’s something you would attempt if you were guaranteed not to fail.

I would love to run a marathon without dying. It seems like an overwhelmingly strenuous activity that would be incredibly rewarding.

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Milton

Hurricane Milton is churning away in the Gulf of Mexico with its sights set on Florida’s Gulf Coast. Living in Florida means these storms dominate your life in the window before, during, and after the storm. The waiting game makes it worse. You almost want to rip off the bandaid and get it over with, but there’s always a hope it could weaken dissipate, or do any turn. It’s an emotional waiting game as you wait to see if you or your loved ones are in or out of the cone of doom.

Sunday’s cone

We were initially in the cone Saturday, but as the storm got closer the cone narrowed and we’re out of it. The cone of doom is singular in its meaning. What I mean by that is that it only shows where the eye of the storm (i.e. the center) will pass. It doesn’t mean anyone outside the cone is free of worry. To be clear, those who are in the cone face a much greater peril. This is a deadly storm that will cause massive destruction and loss of life. Consequently, we’re taking this storm seriously.

The 2:00 pm update

Our ground is saturated from the flooding rains that started over the weekend. I don’t think it’s going to take too much wind to take some of them down. Also, hurricanes like to wobble. It’s better to err on the side of it wobbling towards you and be ready. The Hubby and Mayor will be putting up the shutters today just in case. They’re headed to Dallas for the CCM World Invite and want to be sure I’m not being left with a damaged house. This I appreciate. I also appreciate the deeper sleep that comes with the blacked-out windows. I’ll happily withdraw to my cozy bed and enjoy the dark.

Goalielocks is in Orlando. It’s been a back-and-forth argument since Saturday over him driving home. Naturally, he wants to stay and experience the storm. While we’d prefer he come home and be with us. The problem with these storms is the lunacy that happens afterward. You think driving here is an experience. Try driving here after the hurricane. It’s next-level crazy. People don’t know how to approach a stop light that’s out. (It becomes a four-way stop.) They’ll just drive through the intersection like they’re the only person on the road. It’s the post-hurricane mayhem that worries me.

We’re about forty-five minutes from a new track and update from the NHC. Hopefully, it’s good news. It’s probably not. Meanwhile, I’m ready to hit the ground running to finish our not-so-timid storm preparation. Scratch that I can’t run due to a high ankle sprain, which is a story for another day. Let me just say aging as an athlete is for the birds. And now back to waiting for Milton.

If you’re a weather nerd and like to follow the storms, here are some key sites:

  1. NHC: National Hurricane Center’s update site, which covers all Atlantic Basin and Eastern Pacific systems.
  2. Spaghettimodels.com: Mike’s Weather Page is an amazing resource and is always on point. He links to all the models, which can also be found on Tropical Tidbits, so you can see everything. Mike also has a great Facebook page. He’s always informative, and accurate, and has none of the melodrama that comes with television weather personalities.
  3. Steve Weagle: he’s our local weather guy and he does a great job.

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

I set a lot of goals, but the hardest goal I set was to lose the thyroid weight. After tearing my tendon, which forced me to give up both running and Zumba, and being diagnosed with Graves Disease, which forced me to give up any exercise, I put on a lot of weight. To be fair, I also had my thyroid irradiated, so it’s no longer functional. The lack of thyroid and complete lifestyle change was cruel to the scale and my waistline. It took years to get my thyroid to a balanced spot where I could finally start to lose weight and get back to working out.