There are quite a few perks to living in the State of Florida. The sun shines nearly every day. The sky is blue and the air is clean. I don't own a winter coat or even a pair of boots. Putting snow tires on a car every November is a thing of the past, as is scraping snow off the windshield. I love my life here in Florida. Except when it's my birthday.
I was born long ago in a northern spot known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My life took me to Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio before it landed me back in Pittsburgh after graduating from college. I spent three more years there struggling to get up an down its hills in the middle of winter while trying to get to work on time. During a fierce April snowstorm, I made the decision to head south.
I found a job, made friends, got married and became fully entrenched in my Florida life. I knew when hurricane season was but never paid much attention to it. Storms would brush by but we never lost power or suffered any damage. I celebrated my August 26th birthday without interruption.
In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came through South Florida on August 24, a Sunday. When my birthday fell during week, I'd celebrate over the weekend. My birthday dinner was abruptly cancelled when the one and only named storm of the season approached us. I probably made leftovers for dinner and I'm sure I didn't have any cake and ice cream in the house. We lived far enough north of the storm that we didn't suffer much damage for which I'm grateful. But using candles to light the house instead of blowing them out on a birthday cake really sucks.
That was 20 years ago and thus my life without birthdays began. The last week in August and the first week in September is the most active part of hurricane season. And not every storm turns into a well known and named storm but many do. Katrina made its first landfall in Florida on August 26 before picking up strength in the Gulf. Irene came through last year dumping boatloads of rain, as did Fay and Debby in earlier years.
This year we're watching Isaac. Tomorrow is supposed to be a blustery, rainy and overall gloomy kind of day. Hurricanes can turn on a dime without notice so it's best to be prepared. We never know when the roof might start shaking and the the sliding glass windows will begin to bow. Once the power goes out, we'll have a mad scramble to eat all the food in the freezer before it spoils. I'm heading out to the store to stock up on cake and ice cream and maybe a few candles too. I'd rather eat cake than some old casserole that's been tucked away in the freezer unnoticed for years. I'll have the bakery decorate it with a hurricane tracking map so I can follow Isaac's path as I un-celebrate another year.
I was born long ago in a northern spot known as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. My life took me to Minnesota, Michigan and Ohio before it landed me back in Pittsburgh after graduating from college. I spent three more years there struggling to get up an down its hills in the middle of winter while trying to get to work on time. During a fierce April snowstorm, I made the decision to head south.
I found a job, made friends, got married and became fully entrenched in my Florida life. I knew when hurricane season was but never paid much attention to it. Storms would brush by but we never lost power or suffered any damage. I celebrated my August 26th birthday without interruption.
In 1992 Hurricane Andrew came through South Florida on August 24, a Sunday. When my birthday fell during week, I'd celebrate over the weekend. My birthday dinner was abruptly cancelled when the one and only named storm of the season approached us. I probably made leftovers for dinner and I'm sure I didn't have any cake and ice cream in the house. We lived far enough north of the storm that we didn't suffer much damage for which I'm grateful. But using candles to light the house instead of blowing them out on a birthday cake really sucks.
That was 20 years ago and thus my life without birthdays began. The last week in August and the first week in September is the most active part of hurricane season. And not every storm turns into a well known and named storm but many do. Katrina made its first landfall in Florida on August 26 before picking up strength in the Gulf. Irene came through last year dumping boatloads of rain, as did Fay and Debby in earlier years.
This year we're watching Isaac. Tomorrow is supposed to be a blustery, rainy and overall gloomy kind of day. Hurricanes can turn on a dime without notice so it's best to be prepared. We never know when the roof might start shaking and the the sliding glass windows will begin to bow. Once the power goes out, we'll have a mad scramble to eat all the food in the freezer before it spoils. I'm heading out to the store to stock up on cake and ice cream and maybe a few candles too. I'd rather eat cake than some old casserole that's been tucked away in the freezer unnoticed for years. I'll have the bakery decorate it with a hurricane tracking map so I can follow Isaac's path as I un-celebrate another year.
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