Saturday evening I was doing a little clean-up in the kitchen and watching the clouds roll across the sky. I leaned over to get a better look towards the northeast and there it was – the end of a rainbow. It has been a long time since I’ve seen one that was as brilliant so I grabbed my camera and ran out the front door in my slippers.
It was a surprise rainbow because we had a very cloudy and gusty windy day. For over 24 hours the wind had been howling through the white pine, and the newly bared branches of the deciduous trees were whipping around and singing deep mournful songs. The wind sounds were unsettling. We very seldom get wind from due East and today the wind blew from the southwest, but whipped around the house and onto my east facing front porch to knocked on the windows of my reading room. We had gotten some rain in the past hour but the clouds were blocking the sunset so the rainbow was a big surprise. It seems strange to write it but I really needed this rainbow – without knowing I needed it.
It has been a very difficult month. The backside of Hurricane Ian combined with a super-high tide deposited a couple of feet of water inside our condo in Florida. Nasty brackish water contaminated with raw sewage. Things are working themselves out and we are fortunate on so many counts. The flood insurance carried by the condo association (FEMA insurance) was on site as soon as the water went out with the tide. They wanted to get a mold mitigator in immediately at their expense so mold wouldn’t form and migrate to the upper units which would lead to the city condemning each two-unit building. We had to go to Florida immediately but not until they told us we could get to the condo and it was safe. We were told the mold people were coming right away so we had to get anything we could salvage from the dumpster out of the unit and moved someplace else. We decided to drive because we knew it would be impossible to get a rental – and when we talked with our neighbor we learned that the Ft. Meyers airport was closed. Another neighbor flew into Ft. Lauderdale, was able to get a car and hotel room there and drove across the state every day. A neighbor with a second floor condo said we could stay there because one of them was receiving radiation treatment in Missouri and wouldn’t be going to Florida this year.
Our task was overwhelming. I didn’t fully comprehend how it felt to sit down on a chair and feel the dampness wick through my clothes, to open the bottom drawers of dressers and have the drawer fronts come off, and to work in sewage. I wasn’t prepared for having to make thousands of decisions about what couldn’t be kept, what maybe could be kept with washing, what wasn’t worth keeping, and what should be kept. I remember picking up an open box of Q-tips from an above-water-line drawer and thinking “those can be saved.” And then I pitched them because they didn’t have enough value to take to Michigan and back. Did I say our condo stank?
There was, of course, a boil water warning. Not a problem because we were eating in restaurants (that had a shortage of food) and drinking bottled water. But silly me! Our friend’s condo was our clean space, our comfort zone, our safe place. It never registered that the water I used to take pills and brush my teeth was that same water that went to our contaminated condo. Both of us got a bit of intestinal upset, but not enough to keep us from traveling north. We only wanted to stay three nights. Jim said he didn’t want to see our things taken out to the dumpster.
Yes, seeing the rainbow in Michigan after experiencing the aftermath of flooding was very welcome. I could hear Judy Garland singing, “Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high…” And I remembered the Christian Biblical story of Noah and the flood and the rainbow as a promise that God would never send a flood to destroy the world again. I didn’t miss the irony that we, the inhabitants of our world, are the ones who, through past and present actions, are causing the global warming and resulting extreme natural disasters. The greed and over consumption of developed countries could cause the destruction of our world this time, not God. I can hear my mother saying, “You made your bed, now you have to lie in it.”
A New Day: Living Life Almost Gracefully 
I am so sorry to hear of all you have been through. I hope things resolve quickly
LikeLike
Me, too, Nora. We are hoping to go to Florida during the first week of Dec. to sign a contract with our rebuilder and get materials order so he can start as soon as we get word that we can move ahead. I haven’t been doing well with patience these days. š
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very unusual photo – filled with hope as you say. I wondered about your Florida home…and now another hurricane coming this evening. I hope it steers clear of your place this time…
BTW: I could just see myself brushing my teeth like you did without thinking about the source of the water…yikes! Glad you’ve recovered from that.
LikeLike
The current hurricane will be north of us but we will get lots of rain. Lots of rain has never been a problem. Your comment made me smile big. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
š
LikeLike
Pat, I’m hoping you have many more rainbows going forward. I’m wondering whether we might be god’s way of ending our world…..
LikeLike
Thanks. Something to ponder – but then are we suppose to be part of the healing or part of the destruction? The implications of that question have chuckling.
LikeLike
So sorry to hear what you’ve been having to deal with. I’d been wondering how you were affected by that dreadful storm. Hope mitigation continues to progress. I’ll be interested to learn how the Botanical Gardens fared . Stay safe, Pat.
LikeLike
The garden was closed when we were there right after the storm. They had damage but not nearly as catastrophic as the damage caused by Erma. They are now open and we are looking forward to our walk around when we go down for a few days in December. Thanks for thinking of us.
LikeLike
I had wondered if you home in Florida had been damaged by the storm…so sorry to hear about the damage…but glad you weren’t there when the storm hit…peace be with you.
LikeLike
Thanks, Charlie. Everything is going to be okay. We adjusted for the worst – that it was going to an expensive and difficult to complete rebuild. Now we are slowly finding out that all is better than we expected. Of course the bad news is that we aren’t going to be there this winter and it is beginning to get cold in Michigan.
LikeLike
Lovely rainbow story,
Sent from my iPhone
>
LikeLike
Thanks, dear friends. You have been so helpful and supportive.
LikeLike
Pat, what hope that rainbow gave you after the hurricane and its aftermath. I hope things work out for you and your husband. Take care!
LikeLike
Thanks, Anne, for your very supportive comment. I think we have things under control, at least those things that we can control. š
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hoping the clean up becomes easier.
The rainbow, a message for sure. Hang in there.
LikeLike
Thanks. The clean-up has all been done by the company that did the mold mitigation. We are just putting together plans for re-building and refurnishing the inside. I can’t image tackling the clean-up but I know there are lots and lots of people who can’t afford to hire others to do there dirty work for them. We are almost 80 and appreciate the people who do the work because we no longer can. It is pretty disgusting work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. So grateful for those who can do the jobs we cant. I hope the rebuilding will be a fun project for you.
LikeLike
Thanks, I think we are moving towards fun and have gotten word that the condo’s flood insurance will help with some of our expenses.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so sorry to hear about all the trouble Ian caused you! And those thousands of decisions you had to make quickly. Iām hoping that somehow your happy winter place can become happy again. You described this painful time so eloquently that my heart was right there hurting with you. And that rainbow. Such gorgeous colors through those barren branches. I can see why it would hold significant meaning. Thanks for bringing us up to date on your life!
LikeLike
Thanks for your very uplifting comments, Lois. Things are coming together although I’m not quite able to see it in its completed state. I really appreciate your comment about my writing. As you well know writing succinctly but also to tell a story is very difficulty – and I don’t always have the energy to make a long post short enough to hold readers’ interest.
LikeLiked by 1 person