Hurricane Charley hit. We had gotten back from Ridgecrest on Tuesday, and paid very little attention to the storm until Friday (the 13th) about lunch, when word began to spread that Charley had taken a sharp turn and was headed straight for Orlando. What a night. Lost power. All of us sitting in the hall at one point. I thought we were okay most of the night but at the height of the storm (about midnight) the windows in the living room were rattling and I thought we might be in trouble.

Then it was over, and everyone went outside to assess the damage. Limbs everywhere. The swing blown over; the slide twisted and separated from the rest. Ice cream with Mike and Judy…hey, if the power stays off it’ll melt in the freezer. The next morning we saw just how bad it was as we walked around the neighborhood and saw trees down everywhere. The power came back on around noon as Mike and I were on the roof checking out the damage. Thankfully, it was the only time we lost power during the storms, though others nearby went without for days and even weeks.

Charley certainly changed forever the way we looked at approaching hurricanes. The next few months saw 2 more with Frances and Jeanne and a near miss with Ivan. It’s hard to even imagine how much attitudes have changed about hurricanes in the past year…from casual disregard to a deep respect for the havoc a hurricane can wreak.

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