It Never Rains But It Pours . . .

/ Marcia Meara

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. . . and  pours. And pours. We are about to get slammed by Hurricane Matthew, it appears. If the city of Daytona takes a direct hit, as predicted, we are well within the Zone of hurricane force winds and rain. (We are less than 20 miles from there.) Mark is securing the buildings downtown, and we will be battening the hatches here. No mandatory evacuation for us at this point, since we are inland, but we will be getting a ton of rain and wind, most likely. And we are almost certain to lose power. Thank goodness for camping gear and a gas-powered generator. It will let us run the refrigerator and the emergency window a/c in our bedroom.

I will try to get some more excerpts up today, but I have to shop for a few storm supplies, gas up the car, and reschedule the workshop I was going to do on Saturday, first. The venue will likely be closed for storm clean-up.

SO, if I disappear for a couple of days, you’ll know why. And I STILL promise to get all your excerpts up as quickly as I can when I return. They WILL be shared here as soon as Real Life gives me a bit of breathing room.

In the meantime, wish us luck. And my daughter, Erin, too. She is in a mandatory evacuation zone in Charleston, South Carolina, and they are on their way out of town.

Matthew is a very bad boy.

 

59 thoughts on “It Never Rains But It Pours . . .”

    • No such thing as a good hurricane, if you ask me, and this one has already left a trail of terrible destruction behind it. I’m trying not to dwell on it, because at this point, it’s out of my hands. Thanks for wishing us luck.

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    • Yeah, I didn’t like having to post it, either, but I figured if I just disappeared for a few days, someone MIGHT notice. 🙂 Especially those last few waiting for their excerpts to get posted. *sigh* And I’ve had to reschedule my workshop for this Saturday, since the venue will probably be closed for storm clean-up. Man. Matthew is starting to make me pretty angry! Thanks for the well wishes, though, Linda. I’ll keep you posted, as I can.

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    • Thanks, Mae. Yep, I’m an old pro at battening. 😀 Don’t worry about the emails, though it’s always great to hear from you. But who knows if I’ll even be able to get online to read them? Hopefully, I still be “in touch” via my phone, but I can’t do everything from there the way I want. Emails are usually good, though. And Maks and Potter, Harry & Murphy, and Abby and Molly all say hi back to Raven. 😀

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  14. Dear Lord, when it rains it pours everywhere! God is testing many these days. Marsh, extra prayers for you and yours and your city from me. I”m keeping tabs on the hurricane on CNN and thinking of you. Stay safe, and for God’s sake stop worrying about posting!!!! Please just keep us up to date, letting us know you’re alright! Love and hugs, Deb xoxo

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    • Thanks, Lori! So nice to see you here. Lots of great writers to get to know. 🙂 (Just don’t forget about ME! 😉 ) And I’m gonna try my best to stay out of harm’s way. But man, I’ve sat up through too many of these things. They never get any less frightening.

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  19. We spent the morning shopping and preparing, too. Matthew is indeed a very bad boy. Here’s hoping it doesn’t come any further west and make landfall in Daytona Beach I am not looking forward to being without power. Been there, done that twice in 2004––and it’s no fun.

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    • Hope we come out of it unscathed, too, Liz. I can’t tell you how many hurricanes I’ve ridden out in 72 years. I can clearly remember Hurricane Donna rampaging through Tampa in the 1960’s. And so many more. 2004 was a record year, though. Four in a row! And three of them made a Blue Tarp City out of our area. We were lucky that we were only without power 2 days. Some places were more than a week, and one of my friends had no power for 18 days. 😯 Trees down, cars smashed, and something like 25 people killed. Let’s hope Matthew learns some manners before he reaches us. He’s already done enough bad things!

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    • Erin will actually be almost in Louisiana, going most of the way across the Florida panhandle. But we’re sticking it out here, and praying we’ve done enough to stay safe. We have six animals. Traveling with them would be very, very hard. If we were taking the direct hit, I’d go, but it LOOKS like Daytona will get the worst of it, and while we are close, and will no doubt have 60mph winds or more, we sometimes get those in summer storms. ALWAYS dangerous, no doubt, but normally not something you’d evacuate for.

      Our house should weather the storm, assuming a tree doesn’t fall on us, but we’ve already lost all but one of our big oaks, and the one that’s left is much smaller, and leaning away from the house. I’m worried about it coming down, and that’s always pretty bad, but hopefully, if it does, it won’t land on us. Still, I’ll confess, I’m very, very nervous. Had they told us to clear out, I’d be on the road, animals or not. (I do like the idea of a little vacation in Louisiana, though. I wonder what’s happening in Bon Temps. 😀 )

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    • Thank you, Ned. I’ll keep checking in for as long as I have power. Or the computer does, anyway. Hopefully my own power will last beyond Matthew. 🙂 I confess, I’m getting pretty jittery, but then I always do when one of these storms is on the way. You just never know what to expect.

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      • That’s understandable. I’ve been through two hurricanes (Michigan and Florida) and they are pretty unnerving. On the bright side, think of all the writing material you’ll have when it’s over? 😉

        Hang in there, Marcia. My best thoughts and wishes are with you.

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        • Great minds, Ned. I was just thinking I might have to have a hurricane hit the little town of Riverbend in my 4th book of the series. 😯 Oh, those Painter Brothers would have their hands full. And what if it damaged Lester’s home and all his albino and leucistic reptiles got loose? Eeeep. Could be fun. At least more so than experiencing a REAL one.

          I’ve sat up through so many hurricanes over the years, I’ve lost count. I can clearly remember watching people in rowboats on Bayshore Boulevard after Hurricane Donna in the 1960’s. But I never, ever take them for granted. And Matthew has already left a pretty hefty death toll in his wake. I have been praying he’d take a sharp turn to the right and head out over the Atlantic, but it doesn’t look likely.

          Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers, Ned. We need all the good wishes we can get.

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