It's Happening Now

All the drama is happening across the ocean this morning as Milton crawls across Florida. I've just been reading up on the news and it looks like Tampa has escaped the worst of it, but of course the storm is still happening so who knows. Areas to the south seem to have been harder hit, and then there are all those tornadoes toward the east coast of the state.

My friend Cherie is visiting London with her husband, and they came over last night for dinner. Their home is in South Tampa, and their daughters are staying with a nanny in Brandon, which is inland from Tampa. We watched storm news as they collected information from home, all in advance of the storm making landfall. In addition to newscasts we found a webcam channel where we could watch a series of live webcams from up and down the west coast of Florida, so we could see what was happening in real time.

I'm sure it's strange and stressful for them to be here now, rather than there, but at the same time we enjoyed dinner and it was great to catch up. Dave made shepherd's pie, a broccoli and cheese soup and a tarte tatin for dessert. Cherie texted me from her hotel at 3 a.m. saying her daughters are without power but safe.

We're waiting to hear what has become of Dave's parents' mobile home, which is on the water in Cortez, near Bradenton. My family in Lutz, north of Tampa, planned to ride out the storm in their houses. I had misgivings about that because...

...of my stepmother's house. This photo was taken not long after my dad built it in the mid-'70s, and as you can see, that entire wall is glass. I texted my stepsister and said my stepmother and nephew shouldn't stay there, and she said she agreed but they were determined. (She lives next door.) Hopefully they've sequestered themselves in an interior room. It's proved to be a very durable house during past storms so hopefully the same will be true this time around.

Meanwhile, yesterday was pretty quiet. I cleaned our flat in preparation for our visitors and took a walk through the neighborhoods north of us just to get some exercise. That's where I found the leaves in the top photo, and also this broken mirror:

I wasn't going to use that photo because it seems reminiscent of hurricane damage, but what the heck. I can emphatically say a hurricane did not damage that mirror.

Here's a mystery. This sign has appeared at the base of our street. (Hopefully this one won't be abandoned so that I have to haul it away myself.) We have no idea why the street's going to be closed or what's going on. Stay tuned!