Post Irma Musings

via Rosemary F

Although I am not sure what I think about this (from T.V.?) graphic we certainly escaped the brunt in Sarasota.  More about that later.

Many others were not so fortunate.  The Florida Keys are a mess. Popular media outlets  will tell you all about that.  I do not know what to say about the people who refused to leave the Keys, but I know that for some it was all but impossible **

Puerto Rico is not a State within the U.S.A, rather it is an American Commonwealth (what ever that means).  Puerto Ricans are American citizens.  They can vote in Presidential Elections, but they have no Senators or Representatives in Congress.

But it is Puerto Rico U.S.A. but you might not know it as the aftermath of Irma is reported here. Parts of P.R. were devastated.  I posted some up-to-date info on my Face book page today.

It's been all but impossible to get  news from Cuba.  That Island was also hard hit, but the only info I have was from the Episcopal Church Bishop in Cuba, the Rt. Revd .Griselda Delgado del Carpio. It  was posted before the storm.

Incidentally - she and her former husband (also a Priest) visited St. James's in Cambridge one Sunday when I was the Rector there. I took them for lunch at the next day at "Fire and Ice"  https://fire-ice.com in Cambridge.  They loved it.

So I have a special feeling of love for Griselda, and I'd love to visit her in Cuba.

I have similar personal concerns for the residents of the devastated British Virgin Islands. about which I also I posted some up-to-date info on my Face book page today.

Katie C. grew up in Pittsfield MA, and was a lovely girl and then young woman at St. Stephen's in my time as Rector, when she was Katie LaD.   She and her husband owned a home and business in the BVI.  They have lost everything.

Evacuation to the U.S.A. has proven to be impossible.  K's cousin C.W, thought that she has secured a plane ticket for them, but the airline refused to honour the reservation.

O dear Kattie and Shane, my heart aches for you.

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Meanwhile, back in SRQ.   Some people have asked why I and others did not evacuate  ***  It ain't that simple!

Florida has more than 21 million residents.  Apart from the panhandle, we are a long and narrow Peninsula.. There are but two Interstates which link us to the north. Can you imagine the chaos if most of us tried to "escape" via Interstates 75 and 95?

Flying was not an option -  how do you fly 21 million people in about 96 hours?

So I, with very many others, decided to stay. Now is the time to express gratitude.

1.  I am grateful that Bill and Patrick invited me into their home so that I did not have to ride out the storm.alone.

2.   I am grateful that in my neck of the woods there was next to no damage to property, and that we never lost electricity. WOW!

3. I am grateful that most of my friends who lost power now have it restored.

4. I am grateful that all my pre-storm preparations did  not have to be  utilised; (except that our local Bank of  America is still closed, so I am glad that I withdrew cash long before the storm

5. Am I grateful to God for this?

For if I thank God for our preservation, I must also ask him/her/ it this :"If you spared us in this part of Florida why were the residents of the Keys and the Caribbean Islands not spared?"