It is Sunday, Oct 24, 2010 at 9:35 am
Tropical Storm Richard is upgraded to category I and expect to reach cat II by landfall...Yikes!
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Its Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 9:06 a.m.
I am sitting in my brand new renovated (un-insured) beach house looking through the Bay Window from my bedroom towards the vast back garden filled with towering trees, giving me the feel as if I was somewhere in the jungle in Western Belize.
Instead, I am sitting on a beachfront property and if I were to advance 30 steps East to the veranda, my view would change completely to one of the Wonders of the World, the 2nd Largest Barrier Reef stretching across the length of our country along the Mayan Riviera.
Today is special because a day like this could change our lives forever!
At around 8:00 p.m. tonight, we have an inevitable date with Mother's Nature's Force. This one is currently called Tropical Storm Richard heading bulls eye towards us at 10 miles per hour, with 70 mph winds, predicted to increase another 5 mph wind putting him into at least a category I hurricane before hitting landfall.
As we all know on Caye Caulker, tropical storms & hurricanes are the little vermin's that plague us, it seems every October and cause un-necessary expense in one of the slowest (translation poorest) months of the tourist year. So when you own 5 boats, it can be quite a bother & cost to hire a bunch of men to pull them up, take them down, store the equipment, board up, clean the yard from potentially flying objects, hammer a few more nails in the roof, pray for the best and stock up on candles, can food & water and wait it out.
Storms can be quite beautiful as it is occurring and most islanders enjoy watching a good storm, big surf breaking out front and palm trees swaying down to the ground in limbo dance. It is just the aftermath that we detest, looking at the devastation & erosion of beaches, plant life & homes in disrepair that we once again have to rebuild, and the irony is that the day after the hurricane when you are looking at the mess, it will always be the absolute most perfect weather one can ever hope for! = sunny clear blue skies, calm crystal clear waters and cool trade wind breezes.
So with that kind of weather, we get inspired to clean up, and welcome visitors again, and it never takes us long, we live off tourism and we would be stupid if we lamped up (move slowly)!
Awaiting my rendezvous with Richard tonight, the luminous grey Sky's scattered with Cumulonimbus clouds that linger outside the usual bright blue sky do not scare me at this point. I welcome some steady rains after the last months drought. I spent all day yesterday feverishly planting stems and small growing around the new landscape designed yard and I hope instead of getting washed out, the roots will soak up the water, the black soil will become saturated and moist and rich & yummy like the perfectly blended chocolate cake and I hope that they sprout new leaves, stretch them roots and in the end, hope to benefit some good out of Richard the Damn!
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