A hurricane was coming. Many had come over the years. But this is 100 miles inland? “No problem!, came my imitation of the Hispanic movie character, Scarface.
“We’ll have some rain, lots of it. There will be some wind too, maybe even 50 MPH with this one, but that is perfect for hitting iron shots at the Club”, I told Holly. So when the power went out at the office around 10:30 AM, I drove to the dark Country Club, got a 6 iron from my car boot, and took a walk into the wind now coming strong from the Northeast. Oh, it was so exciting; a howling gale that took my crisp shots and whipped them along with the force filled with peppering rain. After 500 yards down the way, there came a huge crash to the right. An oak, some 6’ in diameter, had blown down. The gust arrived and a popping sound behind me was realized to be a pine tree limb 8” thick snapping off some 30’ up the trunk. The wind pushed the limb 30 yards in the air and what had now become a dart, impaled the earth. In my belly I felt the thud some 70 yards away. Then seeing several green pine cones screaming missile-like down the way, it was clear I had terribly underestimated this one- the bitch Katrina.
Tomorrow is the anniversary of her landfall. Some days I still shudder with the aftermath. Gusty, summer rain storms that make the tall, slender tree across the street from my house bend sharply bring back the fear that the one over my head will snap and hit my house. Trauma – yes that is what it is. Mental trauma remains 4 years after she devastated South Mississippi.
Utterly helplessness was the mental condition. Never had such a feeling taken me over. And, I was not alone in that. Many around me felt the same. Ones who had thought they had absolute control. No more!
That sense of assuredness disappeared on August 29, 2005. My confidence will never be as great. My sense of purpose in this life began to change with this particular taste of being so small filling in my mouth. We have so many comforts, so many pleasures, and so many alternatives for ways to spend our days.
What did I learn? I am still not sure what I learned, but I am changed. I feel it now. My work is different. My goals are altered. My cares, well, ¶“Pack up all my care and woe, Here I go, Singing low”.
