On the Fringes of Frances in North Miami Beach

Writing this late at night watching TV and cuddled with the kids listening to the rain hit hard against the window and the wind howling.

In North East Miami Dade County we are having similar weather conditions to Broward County as it seems... we are up here on the CountyLine area and not really in Miami Dade County.

We have trees down all over. Three on my corner. Two massive ficus trees and one big sea grape. A few other smaller ones lie here and there against fences, on the ground, against houses. Cable is out. I have electric (Thank God!) but many others in my area don't. I've heard street lights are out and signs are down...debris here and there.

NorthEast Dade keeps getting strong bands that race down from Palm Beach, through Broward then through here and hook out to sea around Haulover /Sunny Isles.

Had a wonderful Hurricane Shabbos.. had nice meals, lots of snacks, cuddled with the kids and watched the TV we left on in the family room to watch where bad weather was and be on top of the situation. We had cream cheese on Graham Crackers for breakfast. A wonderful lunch together. I fell asleep and the kids woke me to tell me that the big ficus tree across the street fell down and was blocking the court we live on... fell across our neighbors fence and onto the grass by our sidewalk. A BIG tree... landmark sort of tree.

Then...a little bit later the tree across the street fell down onto the back of our neighbors house and into their pool.

Another house across the street had their neighbors ficus tree fall onto their carport/house and captured their car.

I have a few shingles that weren't doing well earlier but hoping they held. 3 or 4.. ....

When the winds died down to the upper 20s or low 30s we went outside, talked to neighbors in the street away from any wires or trees that could fall. Early in the morning I let the two younger boys play in a few puddles with four or five sets of kids before the winds set in..

And they did... hour after hour of tropical storm force winds...with gusts to hurricane force.

Lights flickered a lot.
Cable went out :(

At times things rattled and rolled but usually... pretty much... all in all... very comfy and very good quality time spent together making memories that I am sure will spur my children to fondly track storms.. tell stories of when they went through Frances.

Frances will take the place in their lexicom that Betsy and Cleo took in mine... that Andrew was to the older kids.

We all have our storms. Our storm memories. Us Miami kids..

This is their storm. I remind them that they got the fringes of Frances. Not a direct hit but close enough to rip up the neighborhood and experience a Hurricane up close and not quite personal enough.

I worry about friends I have up in Pt. St. Lucie... in West Palm Beach... in Delray Beach. Imagine they have their hands full. Up in Orlando that I think will be to the north of where this storm will go. I have a son in Tallahassee who I imagine won't really get this storm. ?? Will he??

And..........I wonder what Ivan can do in another week.

Frances is moving west now. Officially WNW but well... not really west. More just north of due west but let's not squabble.

Having a strong band come through here so I'm going off.

Had wild thoughts today. Lying in bed half asleep during the height of the storm. Listening to the wind.. remembering nice things to keep my mind busy so that I didn't obsess too much about the storm and any possible SW jog that could happen as I stayed here with the kids and didn't go to my brother's house where they are boarded in behind shutters. Was a good decision. They were very good thoughts.

So much to think about today...during the storm.

Water was coming in under my living room door... not flooding..rain. We put down blankets/towels and it seems okay. You can hear this clicking sound that seems to be the wind hitting one of the door knobs funny. It's okay. I think its okay.

Going to let the youngest sleep in my bed tonight.

Hurricanes are great in their way. Bad in their way too. Direct hits are horrible. Near misses on the fringes are great because they make you realize how much you are blessed...how much you have..how little money and property and priviledge and "things" mean and how fast they can be ripped away from you. And, then what do you have left? A shell of a house where you had the latest electronic toys, the best furniture, the fanciest cars... and hopefully good insurance. But in a heartbeat it can all be taken away from you. Ripped away from you. If you make your life about possessions ...they are a very transitory pleasure.

I heard that this storm is ripping apart the million dollar homes on Jupiter Beach. I hope those people with their mansions and yachts have someone they love by their side and not just favorite possessions. Love lasts. Love stays. Love remains in our hearts and that cannot be taken away from us. It fades and we can move on and love others but it never dies. But we have a horrible tendency to let it get away from us. To not take chances..to not reach out for fear by reaching out with our hands and hearts open wide we will lose what we are clutching in our hands... when the truth is what you have in your hands is often as tenuous as sand that can sift through your fingers... when you let love get away its really sad.

So...all those millionaires up there.. I hope they have someone they love not just possessions.

And...all those poor people in trailer parks and small little subdivisions.. I hope they have their heart's desires next to them tonight.

I have mine... sort of.. in that I have my kids. It's not the same as other heart's desires that I am talking about and I hope and pray I will have that too soon.

This has been a wonderful summer.

I've seen so many things change that I thought would never change.

Things like the 163rd street mall be knocked down day by day as it waits for a Walmart to be built.. maybe.

My kitchen and parts of my house were ripped apart in seconds.. cabinets I hated and memories of bad fights with my ex-husband ripped away and rebuilt into a beautiful new beautiful kitchen. A cove like kitchen not a hallway that you cook in while kids zip in and out around you from three entrances. No more horrible mauvy/gray counters. New bedrooms, new paint... no more walls full of tons of pictures.. new..

I met new people that made incredible impressions upon me in many ways. Some more than others. Some that I could never conjure up even if I tried.

The lights are flickering. I'm going to turn them off.. turn this off, turn up the AC in case we lose electric and wake up the youngest from his sleeping bag on the floor ..he snores.. and let him cuddle in bed with me. For .......his sake of course.

And, I'm going to dream or think or remember some things that will keep me warm and safe inside my heart through the night. And, I'll ponder and wonder on what might be yet to come.

Loud noises outside made me lift up the bathroom window to check but it all looks okay.
Pray it will be okay.

Will write tomorrow.

Heard the for the first time what I've been waiting to hear. North Broward is getting part of the eye wall.. maybe a small part of the eye. That was my thought on whatever day it was that this started.. Thursday?

No one seems to have told Frances that she didn't have to stay for the WHOLE Labor Day Weekend.. she seems to be a guest that doesn't know when to leave.

Forgive me for not checking spellchecker ;)

Nite, Sweet Hurricane Dreams... pray those up the coast don't suffer too much damage ..
Bobbi in North Miami Beach on the fringes of Frances... feeling feeder bands and more.