After my Draft Night experience, I was actually looking forward to watching a football game in which I had a vested interest. With Irma looming in my future, I made my preparations for a long period of no power - I laid in batteries, candles, canned goods, charcoal and lighter cubes, lots of paper reading material,a battery operated radio and several small battery-powered fans. As ready for Irma as I could be, I went to my first Fantasy Football game night and Tom Brady never showed up!!! The game as interesting from a viewer perspective as I and thought my two colleagues would be very raucous and opinionated about players and plays and coaching choices, but they were actually rather sobered by the Patriots' lack of game. Janet was over-the-moon that the Pats would not be able to match her beloved Dolphins perfect season but that was about the only upbeat excitement of the evening. I drove home in the quiet before the storm.
Irma blew into town and screwed up every one's plans. Mother Nature does not like being taken for granted and she made the very clear as 100+ mile an hour winds shattered trees and structures. (I never thought I'd be grateful for last year's hurricane, Matthew, but that storm's less severe winds took out most of the deadwood, thank heavens!) Irma did enough damage; I shudder to contemplate how much worse it would have been if Matthew hadn't cleared out a bunch of stuff.I lost power on Sunday evening after midnight. (!t lasted longer than I expected.) When the storm passed out of my area Monday afternoon, I found I had no cell service as towers had been damaged as well as no power. Also, the creek flooded and I couldn't get out until the bridge was visible. So mostly I spent Monday and Tuesday, reading and listening to WOKV our local talk radio/CBS affiliate that kept information flowing.
My house sustained no damage at all. I had a bit of flooding, but the only structure that I lost was the middle part of my patio fence! I was very, very lucky. My two favorite neighbors had the same degree of minor damage. Sometimes it pays to live on the second highest point of land in the county! 
It took two more days for the water to recede enough for me to check up on Letreze, who had to take a canoe to the house we stitch in to verify that the creek was just below the roof! Helping remove all the sodden fabric and magazines and papers reminded me of March 1967 when IWC closed school so we students could help sandbag the Mississippi at Rock Island and Moline. Filthy work that made you acknowledge just how little humans really do control.
When I finally made it to a spot that had a cellular connection, I discovered an email from Janet reminding me that I had to update my FF roster as one of my players had been injured and was out for the rest of the season. WHAT!!!! In the midst of all the chaos right now, I'm supposed to think about FF?!?!?!
Well, I did and concluded that FF is to the rest of my league what reading is to me - a necessity in my life as it allows to escape, to avoid, to ignore what's wrong in my life. SO, when Jean and Brian invited me to visit their air conditioned house (THEY had power) I did so and while there made my roster changes. Idiot that I am, I declined their invitation to stay over. I regretted that decision a couple of hours later when I couldn't get comfortable in the evening heat. Sometimes, I just don't know what's good for me!
Power restored, I am giving huge, huge thanks to utility company employees and volunteers who make my life very, very comfortable. If I could, I'd make brownies for every single one of you! I have definitive evidence of the relationship between temperature and sleep - once I had cool air, I slept like a coma victim for 11 hours!
It's Monday. One week ago Irma wrecked this area. I have friends who are homeless. I have learned that adversity breeds strength - that Letreze is incapable of admitting defeat and will fight for every inch of ground and that Jean will make a positive out of any experience (as she took out wet sheetrock in the Creek House, she grinned noting, "I can now add house demolition to my CV." ) I was fiercely reminded of my own limitations when I tried to keep up with those two hauling and hammering and carrying. I may have lost a lot of weight but I am not in their category of fitness. On the positive side - I was stunned and touched by the number of Cunarder friends who emailed me from all over the world to make sure I was okay and to offer thoughts and prayers.
Fantasy Football vs. Irma? Irma won. Coping with her aftermath obliterated FF from my consciousness until I got an email and a phone call last night from two different friends, each reminding me about the football games on television and asking which players I had involved in them. Neighborhood drama precluded me watching, then this morning Janet emailed me condolences on my injured player. What, AGAIN! Now I have to change the lineup!! Sigh, this just never ends. BUT, I did recognize three player names as I listened to the news this morning!! Progress!!!
