“Hurricanes couldn’t remove you from my mind. You’re my world and I’m incapable of not loving you.”
— Billie-Jo Williams
The night before the hurricane, we took all of the chickens and pigeons and settled them comfortably in the garage.
“Here,” Marie said. “Can you carry him for me?”
I stared at the chicken. It’s stupid, but I am always afraid of breaking everything I touch, so I am gentle. I’ll explain that in a later post.
I tried to settle the chicken in my arms and it moved its wings. I held tighter and the chicken became more unsettled.
“Hang on,” Marie said, and repositioned my arms. “Light touch. It’s fine.”
I carried several chickens to the garage without accidentally killing any, so I guess that’s a plus. I was pleased I was allowed to help, but I drew the line at carrying pigeons. I was worried they would escape and fly away.
We woke up late the next day and cared for the chickens and pigeons. The storm was light at first. The power was already out. We moved to the living room, which had a view through the glass sliding doors, even though we stayed away from them for safety reasons. Marie and I sat together on the couch. The radio droned endlessly about Hurricane Ian on the coffee table.
The storm hit full force. As we watched, the trees outside cracked and were ripped up by the roots. Rain and wind whipped past the windows. This went on for three hours. Marie constructed the birdhouse dice tower from Wingspan while I popped the tokens out of the packaging. We didn’t end up playing it, but I read the rules.
It was…kinda boring after awhile. Rain, wind, more rain, more wind. Then the eye of the storm hit and it was gentler and quieter.
That lasted for maybe an hour and a half before the second eyewall arrived. It lasted three hours and went the opposite direction, taking down more trees.
By that time I was relatively certain I was not going to die a horrible death.
Then it was over and quiet.
Hurricane Ian was a Category 4 hurricane that was just short of being a Category 5 by a few miles. It is supposedly one of the top 5 worst hurricanes to ever hit Florida.
This was not how I had expected my vacation to go, but I guess I can’t complain since we all made it through ok. Little did I know that the aftermath would be worse than the hurricane itself.
Post 32 in Socially Unacceptable: The Daily Life of a Queer Schizophrenic Wreck (2022)
This is an autobiographical series about my life, something I have wanted to do for a long time. I intend to add new content daily.
For the whole series, follow this link.
The Queer Schizophrenic 