Back to Blogging, Looking Like a Drowned Rat

We had an unexpected death in the family, then Hurricane Matthew. That's why I haven't blogged in awhile. I'm still feeling quite bedraggled and befuddled, but here I am.

We lost our longtime furry companion. Fortunately, these days more people "get it" that when our other-species companions leave, it hurts a lot. We're losing some of our human arrogance and realizing that relationships with other creatures can be strong and meaningful. That's progress!

It doesn't matter if a loved one is old or young, sick or healthy when they leave. We miss them and it hurts. One of my teachers explained that grief has 3 parts- you feel for them because they suffered and you couldn't stop the suffering, you want to know where their spirit has gone and if they are OK, and mostly, you suffer from the hole in your heart where they used to be. Takes time to work through it all and incorporate the pain into a new version of you, but it does happen:

The Day After, MRobb, 2016

So right after this happened, we had to evacuate 100 miles to escape from Major Hurricane Matthew. Packing our lives into a few small suitcases was a 12-hour marathon I call Speed Prioritizing Your Life. It was quite interesting, and I never want to do it again. I'll write more about it later, most likely.

Fortunately, Matthew took a little wobble to the east ("Wobble, Matthew, Wobble!) and we only lost part of our roof and several chunks of ceiling. Our neighborhood is a mess, but it's livable:

I am feeling very grateful to God and LaSirene for moving Matthew a little to the right...

LaSirene, MRobb, 2012

but also feeling sad and worried for those to the North who are dealing with some horrendous floods.
OK, so what about the garden, after all, this is a garden blog. Well, my indoor garden is OK, but the outside garden is basically gone:

The only thing that stayed standing was one bedraggled schefflera and the Buddha sculpture, and a few Leaf of Life plants from Jamaica:

I did, however, find horseshoe crabs in the garden, left by the storm surge and fierce winds:

Our beach lost a lot of sand it didn't really have enough of in the first place, but the sky was incredibly blue from the fresh and clean air after Matthew roared through:

After the Hurricane, MRobb, Oct2016

So my Weekend Walkabout will be in the clean, fresh air, surrounded by piles of rubble. Hmm.