We are horrified at the pictures of IKE, the latest visitor out of the Atlantic – particularly when hurricanes make landfall on defenseless islands that are near to us. We must give thanks to providence that these lands slow and divert the progress of tropical disasters away from us. In particular, we celebrate the Peninsula of Florida providentially avoiding suffering the fate of Haiti and Cuba and lesser bumps of land just peeking up out of the all-engulfing ocean. We should and must offer help to them so that, in our time of trouble, we can call upon them or expect them to export help to us.
It is sort of self-inflicted wounds when a Cuban government will refuse help because it is the U.S. offering it. It makes no sense and one of my cherished hopes is that one day, instead of independent nations struggling to survive beyond our borders that we make the offer to include them in and expand the notion of a great nation of the United States adding them as the newest states. But that is not what I am writing about.
Seeing the effects of Ike and his predecessors in the Gulf of Mexico and areas bordering this body of water – especially the huge storm the size of Texas threatening to engulf that entire state did not deter me from opening OUR hurricane shutters in the hope that there will be no more such storms this season. We were getting stir-crazy because it was always dark in our home needing lamps and lights to show us how not to bump into chairs, tables and such.
That is what I did yesterday after returning from rehab and doing a little shopping. I just started in the bedroom and opened the shutters. This is not just simply opening them. What you need to do is to open the blinds, opening the windows (two at the bottom of a tier of fixed windows above) and trying to compress them at the sides so you can put the locking devices into holes at the top and the bottom to hold them in place.
The biggest job was the long expanse in our picture window overlooking the western lake. I ran into trouble because opening the lower window still did not give me the room to reach out and get at the locks or have the strength to compress the shutters into their completely open position. This is exhausting work.
The worst job was to climb up on my desk to open the shutters in the office. I just can’t bend like I used to or be able to contort myself so I can reach the bundle of shutters and lock them into place. This would be easy if we were on the first floor. We are on the third. Did I say this was exhausting work?
I did this yesterday knowing the season is not over. I have promised myself that I am too old but not too proud to ask for help the next time they must be closed. Please, oh please – no more hurricanes.