Good Morning, and a Quick Apology

/ Marcia Meara

The Little Statue That Could
The tree trunk landed on top of this, and she is wedged
in good and tight.  Her hat is dented on one side, where the
oak is bearing down on her, but she hasn’t succumbed to
the pressure yet. I’d really like to save her, since she seems
to be trying so hard to save US.
~~~

Things sure look brighter after a good night’s sleep. Well, except for where an entire tree is blocking the light from my windows and front door, of course. But that’s all been turned over to the insurance company, and I’m expecting them to send out an engineer to take charge (and get a general contractor on this) soon. We will need a tree removal service, mason/block layers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and roofers. Ack! This will be a slow process, but at least it’s underway. Sort of. And of course, once they have tarps in place and the tree removed, there are sure to be homes more severely damaged that will be a higher priority for a little while. But it’s moving forward, and I can breathe again.

I do want to apologize if I miss responding to any of your lovely, supportive, and encouraging posts, either on the blog or on Facebook. I have received hundreds of emails, too, and while I’m trying to answer everyone, everywhere, I fear some might be missed in the process. Just know how very much I appreciate all your love and support. There’s something strengthening in knowing others care, and I am blessed to have you all for online friends.

I DID have to do a mass delete of the regular emails I get from blogs I follow, etc. I tried flag all the personal ones for my attention/replies, but the day-to-day things had to go. It was just overwhelming. So please forgive me if I miss a few more days of “Liking and Sharing.” I’ll do my best to get back to it as soon as things calm down a wee bit more.

Now, I need to go figure out a way to get my five-foot wide dancing ladies orchid out of my goldfish pond. 😦 It was hanging from a tree, and the wires snapped in the storm. This was a gift from a fellow gardener about 15 years ago, and has grown from 5″ to 5 or 6 feet!  ENORMOUS, and I’ll be very unhappy to lose it, especially by DROWNING in the pond! That seems a sad ending to such a beautiful plant.

Will keep in touch as often as I can, and thanks again for all your prayers, support, and encouragement! ❤ ❤ ❤

25 thoughts on “Good Morning, and a Quick Apology”

    • Yes, for sure. I was hoping that my post indicated I’m in a much better place, and that even though there’s a long road ahead, I’m comfortable that recovery is underway. Mostly, I just want to be sure you all know I won’t be able to be as diligent about sharing and liking as I usually try to be. But I’ll be back to it as soon as I can. (And what about my little girl, holding up that massive tree all by herself?) 😀

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  3. Marcie, we’d understand if you didn’t have time to blog for weeks to come or respond to posts! I am in awe at how you have responded to this with humour and cheer and determination. I so hope you can rescue your statue – and your orchid.

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    • Aw, thanks, Mary. I will probably at least be able to save parts of the orchid, though I’d love to get the whole thing out, unbroken. (Turns out, I can’t lift it, and will have to wait for Mark’s help. He’s back at work, setting up contractors to come extract water from the first floor of his building.)

      And I hope I can save the little girl. She’s not even concrete. She’s some kind of plaster-like stuff. I can’t believe she didn’t shatter on impact!

      At this point, now that the shock has worn off, I can laugh again, because what else are you going to do when Life throws you for a loop? You get up, dust off, possibly make at rude gesture at Life, then laugh, and move on. Did all that, so . . . I’m movin’ on! Irma is history. Let’s see what today brings. 😀 And I’ll be back to my usual posting routine before too long, I’m sure. Plus, I have a book ready to be published as soon as I get my cover, and finish formatting it. Yay!

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    • Aw, thanks, Olga! The nicest thing just happened. The owners of the house next door (who live in Daytona Beach) came to see me as soon as their renters called to tell them what happened. They are SO nice, and there was much hugging and crying, and laughing going on. They were so worried, they wanted to be sure we were safe and uninjured. It was LOVELY to see them again, because they were our neighbors for ten years, until they bought a beach house and rented the one next door, four years ago. My spirits are really lifted, and they left all their insurance info, too, fully accepting that my company would be contacting theirs. I think when they saw the tree, images of Mark and I flattened inside the house flashed in front of their eyes. It really looks horrifying from the sidewalk vantage point. So now, I’ve had another really nice moment to keep me moving ahead. 🙂

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    • Oh, absolutely we are LUCKY. In the amount of damage, as some people have lost all they owned, AND in the fact that we are alive and uninjured. Once the shock settles, it’s VERY obvious how much we have to be grateful for. And yes, being ALIVE is such a great feeling!! (As opposed to being UN-alive, which probably doesn’t feel all that good at all!) 😀

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    • Thanks, Linda. I am trying to keep up with those who are inquiring about us, and am so amazed at how many people wanted to be sure we were all right. But beyond that, it just has to wait until I can handle it again. I’ll be back in force, then, making up for lost time!! I have a new book to get out, for one thing! 🙂

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    • You don’t get to be my age unless you’re pretty tough, so I insist all my garden art be tough, too! 😀 They were very good neighbors, and it’s nice to know that even though they live 50 miles away now, they haven’t forgotten us. I keep hoping some day they’ll move back, but so far, they just stop by to check on their renters now and then. But they promised to stop in and see me when they do. 🙂 There are LOTS of good things in this world if we take time to look for them! 😉 ❤

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  8. Hi Marcia,
    Just got my Internet back up and saw your posts. And I was upset about a few shingles flying off my roof? Goodness! I kept thinking about you as the storm came through and headed your way. So glad you are safe and well. Good luck with all the post-hurricane headaches. (All the more experiences to write about)! Just know you touch a lot of people and we are all glad you and your little girl with the hat are still around!

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    • Thanks so much, Marie! I’m very grateful to have escaped injury, and even though it will take a long time, we WILL get this taken care of. I just wish we could get going on removing the tree. I’m afraid it is going to eventually cause more damage if something doesn’t happen soon. Hoping the insurance people show up today.

      Very glad you are safe, and have only minor damage. And thanks for your kind words! Let’s hope we don’t see another hurricane for a long, long time. 🙂

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  9. Marcia,
    You certainly took a hit in your part of Florida when Irma came through. We had minimal damage and only lost power and Internet for about 10 hours. The two gates from my fence, which weigh about 150 pounds each, twisted off of their wrought iron hinges and we lost some limbs. The only negative was that we were flooded into our neighborhood until today when the water was finally low enough for cars to get out. Floridians are tough and we will recover. Now I have 11 cases of Zephyr Hills water in case there’s another one. I wish you the best as well as a speedy repair to your garage and vehicles.

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    • So glad to know you are okay, Don! Jacksonville certainly took a hit from flood waters, something that didn’t happen in Sanford at all. (This is my 6th hurricane here, and it’s never flooded. Yet.) I’m sorry to hear about your gates, and that you were trapped via the water until today, but it sounds like you weathered it pretty well. I’m still waiting for the engineer to come make a report on the damage, so we can hire a general contractor to coordinate all the subs. It’s possible Mark might opt to be his own general contractor. Pulling permits is a pain, but he knows some people in the business we’d like to work with. We have a roofer lined up for sure. But the next thing is to get the dadblamed TREE off the house, so we’ll need a service with a crane. No other way to lift it down.

      If Mark decides to be his own General Contractor, guess who will have to be the on-site foreman? 😀

      It’s going to be a LONG process, but we ARE tough, and we WILL recover! Thanks for checking in and letting us know you’re okay! Yay! 🙂

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  10. Never apologize Marsh. We’re glad you’re safe. Take the time you need in your personal life right now. We’re not going anywhere! And look at your beautiful angel holding the weight of that trunk. A blessing! ❤ xo

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    • See my response to Sarah. Southerners apparently use “I’m sorry” for more general purposes than others might. To me, it’s like saying “Excuse me,” or “Don’t be alarmed, but . . .” or even saying I’M sorry that I can’t do something. It’s not an abject apology, wherein I beg forgiveness (though I do make those once in a while, when I’ve really goofed up) but more of a “Ooops. Sorry. Something’s come up. I’ll get back to you later.” An explanation. We preface MANY of our comments with it. For instance:
      “Do know Mary Haversnak?”
      “I’m sorry, I don’t.”

      It’s not a big deal, honest. 🙂 But I will ALWAYS offer an I’m sorry when I can’t respond to comments, followed by an explanation of why. It’s in my genes. 😀

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  11. I know it’s dreadfully rude, but here I go: I thought we’d been over this, Marcia. What happened to “without apologies”? 😉 Stop it! No worries. Glad you are safe. Take care of yourself. And take all the time you need. Seriously. ❤ Be well.

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    • I think you are taking the word “apology” way too seriously. I’m not slinking around here, beating myself over the head. I am a southern gal, born and bred, and we apologize if we can’t do something, if we don’t hear someone, if we need to reach past someone at the grocery store. And that sort of thing. This is pretty much something we are raised to see as polite. “I’m sorry, could you speak louder?” Or, “I’m sorry, can I just grab that can of beans, there?”

      I try to respond to every comment on this blog, on Facebook, and via email, or Twitter. I have received hundreds, though the people sending them have no way of knowing how overwhelmed I am right now. So for me, it would be rude not to explain why I can’t reply to each one. My apology is simply meant to say, “I’m sorry, I can’t answer right now, but I still appreciate your comments, and will get back as soon as I can.” I could never just say “Not answering for now.” And truthfully, I AM sorry I can’t reply to everything. For my OWN self. This is something I do because I love it, and I will be much happier when life lets me participate fully again.

      So don’t think I’m bowing and scraping with my apologies. (I don’t do bowing and scraping very well.) I’m merely being polite. It’s like a generic telephone answering message, “I’m sorry I can’t come to the phone right now, but your call is very important to me.” Only with more detail, because . . . author! I like words. 😀

      And no, I don’t think you were being “dreadfully rude.” I’m happy to know you are sending us well wishes, too. But. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to answer sooner! 😀 😀 😀

      Stay tuned for an update later today, with PICTURES. 😯

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    • Too late on the stress, I’m afraid. Especially after Saturday. I’ll post on that later. However, I’m MUCH better than I was, watching that tree crush my garage down farther and farther every day. AND I’m very aware of how lucky we were, in several ways. So I’m breathing much easier.

      As for Debby and Sarah’s remarks on my apology for having to take time away, see my responses to them. Southerners say “I’m sorry” as often as we say, “Bless her heart,” and for as many DIFFERENT reasons. 😀 It’s the way we talk, and doesn’t mean I’m feeling guilty about anything. I’m not. But I do regret not being able to answer many posts right now.

      Thanks for your well wishes, and we do have the tree off the roof. You can’t imagine what an experience that was, with a crane, a bobcat, three trucks, and 15 men! Oh, my. 😯 Pictures to come. 🙂

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