A Weekend Without A Hurricane

It's been a calm weekend - the first of many during which we did not have to prepare for an impending storm.

But there's the cleanup. Jeanne tore the west side off of a huge tree in our backyard and the debris is, well, a mess. We started working on it yesterday, but I couldn't continue. I stayed in the sun too long and ended up with heat exhaustion. I think I scared Jim; my face was as red as a tomato I was dizzy, seeing tracers around my head. I quit working and went inside, but I just couldn't cool off. Finally, I put my head and neck under cold water and kept it there until I felt my body temperature returning to normal.

A friend stopped by with a smoked mullet (from Cortez - best mullet in Florida) just in time to keep me from passing out. We devoured the mullet with cheese, grapes and crackers, washed down with Gatorade and water. I swear I've never had a better meal.

We had to remind ourselves that many hurricane casualties are a result of the clean-up work that has to be done in the ruthless Florida heat. If you think Florida isn't a harsh climate, you're wrong. It's just harsh in a different way than the northern states. Winters are reasonably mild, but the summers are brutal.

Still, I love Florida summers. I love the blinding heat, the warm water, the sticky evenings, the violent afternoon thunderstorms and the humidity laying thick over the state like a wet blanket.

Not crazy about the hurricanes, though.