It was a scary few days as Hurricane Matthew stealthily made its way toward Florida. We all thought it would destroy Mami or Fort Lauderdale but it came close to land further north by Melbourne. The Hub and I decided to evacuate our house near the beach and go inland to our lake house. The storm was strong enough to reach it but with slower wind speeds. Intermittent heavy rain and strong gusts had us worried that the roof would blow off. We watched the news nonstop fearing the worst, that the eye would land in Jacksonville. As it was, there has been plenty of damage near the beach. At our lake house the worst outcome was to lose our electricity and when that happened, we went back to the beach. Sitting in a hot house in the dark is not fun. Happily, no tree fell on our house. Our neighbor had a tree fall on his fence. The ride home was a little hairy. After we drove to the bridge that crosses the St. John’s River, we were blocked from crossing it. So we had to backtrack and go south to another bridge and, finally, we were able to get to our side of the river. Whew. Our worried kitties meowed the entire time. Not fun. Home never looked so good. And it was fine. No flooding and no loss of electricity. We didn’t have to evacuate, after all.
But our neighborhood was like an oasis. As I investigated today, trees are down everywhere. Piles of dead branches line the roads. Viral videos on Facebook show the devastation of St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach. Roads became rushing rivers. I’m saddened to think about the mess that’s left of St. Augustine, one of my favorite places.
I can’t help but compare the last debate to Matthew. A natural disaster that would destroy all in its path. Trump is like that hurricane, acting in the horrifying manner of all dangerous storms. Feeding on the warm water or hot air to become stronger. Thinking no thoughts but being propelled forward with only one purpose, to destroy all in its path. To destroy our democracy. But unlike Matthew, Trump is an embarrassment, a know-nothing bully. A con, a clown, an incoherent moron. But cat 4 or cat 5 hurricanes like Matthew, due to warmer waters because of climate change, can reek havoc on the world, just like that trigger-happy bozo Donald Trump.
Hilary, like sunshine, is blowing him out of the water. Let’s hope the next debate is canceled and pandora can be put back in his box, become a fizzled out hurricane, or just go away.
