The Storm Descends Upon Us

The weatherman on one of the channels, don’t remember which one since I was sorting through all the local channels faster than a poker dealer sorts out the cards, but one of them said that this is the first time since they started to rate Severe T-Storm Risk that the area which covers Tampa was put under a “High Risk”.  Of course, this does not include Hurricane watches and warnings…but just the risks for severe T-Storms, which typically spawn Tornados. 

Well, here it comes…about 6:45 it is just north of where we live.  Around 5:30, I got up from a short Sunday nap and looked on the computer and saw the storm line coming…and it hit me:  “I LEFT THE ANTENA UP ON THE MOTORHOME!”  You see, every Monday when Marcia goes to her Bible Study with the older ladies from church, Skruffy and I go over to the motorhome, just a few miles from the Church, and I run the generator of the engine for about an hour to charge up the batteries.  Typically the batteries are down to 12.3-12.5 amps.  Lower when the weather is real cold, so normally it is 12.4 or 12.5.  While I am there, I turn on the TV, which means I have the antenna up.  With possible winds of 60-70 mph, I did not like having that antenna up…so I hopped into the car and drove the 5.6 miles to the RV Storage lot.  I put the antenna down, got back in the car and drove back the 6.5 miles home.  Why the .9 extra mile?  Well, as I drove through Tarpon Springs along what they call “Alt-19”, four Tarpon police cars are headed north, lights and sirens going, and although I did not see anything as I passed through there, something was going on.  So I headed over to Highway 19 and then north to home, and although the winds were high, there were no other problems. 

It is now 7:30, and the wind is blowing, there are four or five thunder blasts, our lights flickered once which knocked out the Internet until the Router re-boots, and…well, that is that.  Skruffy, who HATES this type of weather, was in a frenzy for about 30 minutes.  Essentially, and thankfully, it was a non-storm for us.  Others did not fare as well…especially up in Mississippi and Georgia…all from the same massive storm over the past 24 hours.  This seems to be the same storm that hit California four or five days ago.  Yep, winter is here, even if the temps are hitting 80+ here in Florida…down to the low 60’s now that the storm has blown through.

It has been a few weeks since I last posted a blog.  Don’t know why I needed a break from…basically just did not find anything to say.  We kept a close eye on the news the past few weeks, that’s for sure.  Mom had a nasty fall in her hallway one night a few weeks ago, but she is fine.  That has been two falls in about as many months, and both times she had taken Ambien to help her sleep.  I sent dad and my sisters this article I found on older people and Ambien:  Dr. Bill Elliott: Ambien's risks mount for older adults.  Well, dad shared that with mom, and she noted things in the article that she had experienced…and Ambien is no longer going to be used to help her sleep.  Mom has always had trouble sleeping…and especially when her “children” were away from home.  Don’t know how she ever got through Bob being in Viet Nam for 16-18 months…but even just having kids get married and move away would keep her up…even now when almost all her kids are over 60 years old!.

We had Bubba over for another night so that I could give him his monthly flea and heartworm meds, and shave under his chin where he will get a infection if it isn’t kept clean and closely shaven.  He was quickly kicked off the chair that Skruffy is in (two pictures up), but she had to show him that “she” had a her own blanket now!  Above I get him to lift his head and look at me…and when I ask him to do it a second time, well that is too much for Skruffy who…

…jumps in the way of the camera and heads over closer to me.

Yes Skruffy, Bubba will be going home soon and you will have “us” all to yourself again!

Now that the storm has passed, initial reports say there was some damage, like this home in Citrus County north of us, but they don’t know of any deaths as or 11 pm eastern time.  The weather tomorrow is suppose to be a bit rainy, but the dangerous part of the storm has passed.  I will check out the motorhome tomorrow, but I think it will be fine too…and with the antenna down, I think I will sleep soundly tonight…otherwise, I would worry all night long about if the wind knocked that antenna down.