Last time I posted, on September 7th, we were waiting for Hurricane Irma.  Today, September 12th, we’re done.

The hurricane, as of September 7th, looked like it might go to our east.  However, then the models changed and, if you’ve ever had to put up with that sort of things, you’re in a constant state of panic as the predictive “cone” starts to move.

In my case, the cone shifted toward us, and for a while there it looked like we might get a direct hit.  Luckily for us, and not so luckily for others, the cone kept shifting and soon the models were predicting it would go to our west rather than east.

And that’s what it did, hitting the lower keys before moving north towards Marco Island, Naples, and, eventually, Tampa Bay and parts even further north.

Though we weren’t hit by the eye wall, Irma was a big enough beast that we were within its northeast quadrant, the second deadliest section of a hurricane, and experienced many, many, many hours of hurricane gusts, though thankfully they weren’t sustained.

Notheless, when it was done, we were out of power (still are) and found considerable tree damage around us.

But in the end and without trying to sound overly dramatic, we’re alive.  We survived.  The power will eventually come back.  The remains of the broken trees will be cleared up and the streets will be passable.  We’ll be back to where we all were before and, with any luck, Irma (and, for that matter, Harvey) will be one of those once in a lifetime hurricanes no one alive today will ever have to face again.