This isn’t Kansas!

Dear Ness,

I have every intention of finishing my “Tour de Florida II” blog, and starting a “Destination Domestication” blog, & a “Multi-tasking for Dummies” blog shortly.  Just not tonight.  I will update about a most peculiar incident that I, disappointingly, just missed by mere minutes.  I woke up this morning around 7 AM as usual.  I have turned into somewhat of an insomniac.  Fred wakes up for work at this time, inadvertently wakes me up and then I make his lunch.  I try to come up with something the night before but some mornings I just wing it.  I know, I know. He did buy me a house.  It’s the least I could do.  My mom stayed home from work with an aching back, so we got some work around the house done.  I volunteered to clean the bathroom and cook lunch.  Around lunch time is when Mama Sherry yelled about you having the worst experience “just a minute ago!”  and I checked to see if I could catch you on-line somewhere.  It was so nice to have our “Old Skool” Skype session–no video, no sound but it’s Sri Lanka–I get it.  After our most wonderful, SkypeType, I ran to the Kent campus bookstore where I am taking two summer courses.  Anatomy & Physiology II is on Tuesdays, 5:30 PM–7PM.  Microbiology is on Wednesdays at the same time.   I also have the same teacher for both classes, Dr. Lourdes, who is really cool so far.  In addition to teaching, she is also the assistant dean of Biological Sciences and Mathematics.  Aside from being really stylish (Diane Von F wrap dresses!) and young (mid-thirties?), Dr. Lourdes has a really good sense of humor which surprised me.  I guess I assumed she would be all stuffy and dull with bad hair and thick glasses but she’s really pretty and makes class interesting.  Anyway, I still needed my lab manuals for both classes and they were only available at the campus.  I was able to score on my textbooks by buying one edition older saving over $200 from Amazon.  They are exactly the same except the cover.  This year has Michael Phelps.  Last year it featured Venus or Serena Williams.  It was hard to tell from the website and I haven’t received the book yet.  I had to race over to the bike shop, ZenCog where I have been working, to cover for Garf, the owner, for a couple of hours until class time.  I then darted over to school with my safety goggles and lab apron and prayed that we didn’t need our textbook since it hadn’t come in the mail yet.  Luckily we didn’t and I was able to finish my homework out of the lab manual at the bike shop so I was all covered.  I was a wee bit nervous about taking two science classes with labs during the condensed summer semester but I think I will manage just fine.  It’s still very early in the semester but I like Doc’s method of putting all our assignments on-line for us and plugging important due dates and labs in a calendar in addition to the syllabus.  Just as I finished my blood typing lab experiment, the power went off.  During the summer we get the most ferocious rain and thunder storms for about an hour every day and then that’s it.  This storm seemed to be no exception. I quickly put my microscope and synthetic blood samples away since I was all ready finished and headed for home a little early.  Taking my normal route, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary although it was still pouring out and lightning was crackling all around me.  I bolted to the front door, careful to wrap my brand new $65 lab manual (ugh!) in my apron so it wouldn’t get soaked.  As soon as I got a foot in the door, my mom was there asking me if I was all right and which way did I take to come home, yadda, yadda, yadda.  I looked at her like, “What the heck is up with you?” I could tell she was justifiably freaked out but I didn’t what about.  Turns out our neighborhood had a severe tornado!  I’m talking maple and oak trees lifted out of the roots and tossed around like twigs!  Power lines were down on every block around my mom’s house but our little corner of the world was untouched!  I mean the house behind had trees downed, the house next to her got shingles blown off their roof and the house on the other side of her had a tree hitting the power line and into the street.

This house is across the street and two houses down.

This is around the corner.  My mom’s house is the second one from the corner but you can’t see it because the tree is covering!

Look how the tree just dwarfs the car!  I wasn’t home from school maybe 10 minutes when the sky completely stopped raining and cleared right up.  There were downed power lines everywhere.  This is why authorities say DO NOT walk around the neighborhood when a natural disaster or tornado happens.  There could be gas leaks, power lines or trees just waiting to fall over, or in the case of a Miami hurricane, looters!

This is just a close-up of the same shot.  See how the grass is neatly up-ended by the roots jutting out.  Bizarre.  I had never seen the aftermath of a tornado.  I literally missed it up minutes!  My mom said that it was all of a sudden, pitch black outside.  Leaves and branches were swirling everywhere.

This one shows where branches were ripped off.  Of course my mom and I were walking around the neighborhood anyway, careful to avoid all the puddles in hopes of not getting electrocuted.  We went to my friend Amy’s house around the corner to survey her damage and make sure she was okay.  She is also pregnant.  Her entire backyard is in utter chaos!  So sad because she has all these cute games around like bocce ball, and a white-trash above ground pool.  Somehow a small tree became lodged in the pool but her boyfriend Josh was able to get it out.  I immediately thought of the new house!  Oh shit!  One of the things that made me fall in love with my little bungalow are all the beautiful trees I have.  There are two lining my driveway and one in my backyard.  They are the prettiest trees on the block, I’m not kidding!  We raced over there and were so relieved to find absolutely no trace of even rain!  I only live half of a mile from my mom.  So strange how freak weather can be so localized.  Even Fred was called at 8:30 at night to re-panel some friend of his boss’ that had lost power in the neighborhood.  Jacksonville Energy is working outside of the house now to pick up all the debris and downed power lines and it’s I AM!  I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow.  I am meeting with lululemon bosses, finishing homework for microbiology, and then school.  I miss you lots and think I better say a few trayambukum chants for you just in case!  Talk to you soon hopefully.  I’ll leave my Skype up while I am at home.

Love,

Bobe’