Seasonal Zen Mindfulness, Hurricane Memories

As we sit here waiting for daylight, so that we can see how much damage Hurricane Patricia caused, I am deeply aware that today is the 10 year anniversary of Hurricane Wilma zooming across the state.   Down here in the southeastern tip of Florida, the wind has howled all night.  I've had trouble than sleeping--more trouble than usual.

Ten years ago I got up early.  I had been watching the progress of the storm, and I wanted to see the latest update.  I saw it at 5:30 a.m., and then the power went out.  We wouldn't have power again for weeks.

I assumed that the land mass of Florida would weaken the storm.  That didn't happen.  That's one reason why I'm keeping an eye on Patricia.  I don't really think our peninsula is in danger--but one should never ignore a hurricane.  I'm also thinking of friends in Asheville who had a more damaging hurricane season a year or two previously to our disastrous year of 2005--yes, Asheville, NC, up in the mountains.  Land doesn't always shred a hurricane the way that we expect.

During part of Hurricane Wilma, I managed to sleep.  Was I just that exhausted?  Did I have a sense of the exhaustion that was to come  in the weeks after the storm?  It would be years before we got all the repairs done.

I am grateful to have survived one more hurricane season unscathed.  I try not to think about the odds and how they are stacked against us.

But for today there is a pumpkin cake in the oven for my brunch with my quilting friends later today.  I am further ahead on my grading than I thought I would be, so maybe I can get out and enjoy the lovely weather we're having, wind and all.  There aren't as many Halloween decorations as there have been in years past, but I will enjoy what's here.

I have this sense of my favorite part of the year zooming away, that soon I will look up and the dreariness of January will be upon me.  My ever-present task:  to keep myself living in the present, enjoying the delights of each season, while also working on projects that will put me on the trajectory towards the future that I want.