MICHAEL’S CONTINUING SAGA

The old hymn…..Onward Christian soldiers. Michael appears to have moved to the tune. Though not with God on his side. In and out quickly. Did not hang around. In less than two days, did a number on northern Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. Now over the Atlantic, 185 miles east-northeast of Norfolk.

The Panhandle pure devastation. Comments include unprecedented damage, a war zone, communities obliterated, an Air Force Base wiped out, catastrophic, looks like an atomic bomb dropped, cars and boats piled up like rubbish.

Keeps going. Entire blocks empty, houses on them smashed by storm surge and wind, washed out to sea.

First responders going in. Difficult work. The war zone description repeated frequently.

Michael maintained hurricane intensity 200 miles inland. Unusual.

Though Michael far out to sea, Virginia still experiencing dangerous wind gusts.

Michael gone. Recovery help required big time. I do not hear of FEMA’s involvement. Sure they must be there. Tell us. I am concerned Trump will fail the Panhandle as he did Puerto Rico. It all comes down to money. Soon I suspect we will hear there is not enough money. Then what?

Sad stories. Every one of them. One of the worst, 11 year old Sarah Radrey. Staying with her grandparents in Georgia. A car port crashed through the roof and killed her.

God help Sarah, her parents, and her grandparents. Tragedy of the worst kind!

Stopped into the Chart Room first last night. John working. Had not seen him in a week.

The room was packed! Tight standing room only. Forget getting a seat. Highly unusual this time of year. Off season.

Met two nice people. Lisa and Bob. Celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary.

Lisa and Bob from River Edge, New Jersey. Bob affiliated with the New York City Carpenters Union. Lisa works for a podiatrist.

Two grown sons. Twenty four and twenty two.

Their third visit to Key West. Second time at the Pier House. First time stayed at the Ocean Key across the street.

We talked of many things. A bit of politics. Lisa and I on opposite sides of the fence. She watches FOX News!

Liked them. Hope to see them again the next time they return.

David showed up somewhere along the evening. Always good to see David. I enjoy his company.

Then to the Blue Macaw. Enjoyed a drink, brie and good company. Andrea, Joe, John, Doug, Mary, Donna, and Terri.

I was anxious to talk with Doug. He is a tour guide at the Hemingway House.

I have been into ghosts the past few days. First, South Carolina’s Gray Man. Yesterday, Key West’s Angel of Mercy Maria Gutsens.                      .

Researching for more ghost tales yesterday, I came across an article claiming Ernest Hemingway and his second wife Pauline were making nocturnal visits to the Hemingway House.

Hard to believe! Doug would know.

Doug said no to Ernest, maybe to Pauline, but suggested Asa Tift as the real ghost. Asa was a wrecker/salvager in Key West’s early days. A self made tycoon. Built the Hemingway House for he and his family.

I could find nothing to substantiate the Asa story. Did come across more re the Hemingways.

Ghost appearances are technically referred to as manifestations. Many manifestations at the Hemingway House.

Hemingway writing in his loft work room, seen walking around the house, and standing on the veranda occasionally waving at passersby.

Pauline standing at the top of the central staircase looking to the loft watching her husband working and out the window her children playing outside. Occasionally standing at night by the gate smoking a cigarette.

One manifestation is hearing the typewriter clicking in the early morning. Supposedly, Hemingway writing. Could not be true. Hemingway did not type his works. He hand wrote them with a pencil. Then either Pauline or his sister would type them up.

My home bound trip from the Blue Macaw evenings takes me right by the Hemingway House. I shall be looking manifestations.

Key West’s humorous weather man at it again. He predicts this evening at 78 degrees and partly cloudy. Follows it up with…..Stars play peek-a-boo.

Traffic is reaching the breaking point on US 1. The only way in and out of Key West. The only highway through 140 miles of the Keys. Traffic especially heavy the past two years. A recent study attributes the increase to tourists. Claim tourists jam the highway.

Merely sharing. I have no comment.

Another study suggests two major medical problems. The first obviously the flu. The other too many C-sections. The number world wide has doubled from 2000 to 2015. The increase in the U.S. up as much as 30 percent in certain years. China up as much as 62 percent.

The message most of the C-sections not required. Medical problems for mother and child increasing as a result.

DOW doing well. Two days ago, down more than 800 points. Yesterday, more than 500. Today?

Trump’s lack of character evident with the Jamal Khashoggi situation. Trump says U.S. economy more important. We have a $110 billion agreement with Saudi Arabia for planes, etc. Trump says Khashoggi not even a citizen. Correct. He is a legal U.S. resident however and writes for the Washington Post.

News this morning says the $110 billion agreement mostly a holdover from the Obama administration. Actually, letters of intent. Not binding. Saudi Arabia has never purchased anything pursuant to the agreement.

Tonight, I dine! Andrea cooking. Joe making pina coladas. Andrea’s food preparation dining without question. Joe’s pina coladas fun.

Enjoy your day!

 

8 comments on “MICHAEL’S CONTINUING SAGA

  1. I watched TV coverage of the hit northern Florida took from Hurricane Michael. It looked horrific and can now only imagine what it must have been like in Puerto Rico last year after they were hit with two big hurricanes back to back, just weeks apart. It will take them forever to dig out of this and I too wonder if FEMA is going to be up to it. I didn’t see any body on the mostly unpaszable roads and got to thinking about that crazy guy on your blog who kept insisting that in PR they suffered so badly because the truck drivers went on strike. I didn’t see any trucks on the road here either. Talk about blaming the victims.

  2. “I am concerned Trump will fail the Panhandle as he did Puerto Rico. It all comes down to money. Soon I suspect we will hear there is not enough money. Then what?”

    Tell me Lou, do you think he failed the Keys as well?

    • There remains billions of dollars in reimbursement to Monroe County. Federal funds promised, supposed to be paid, not paid. Some people still hurting re a basic such as proper shelter. Federal assistance came on big time initially. Then began faltering. It is a dollar and cents thing. Not enough federal bucks to go around. That is why Michael’s FEMA and federal dollar assistance will falter somewhere down the road re Michael. As a nation, we must plan for these disasters which are more commonplace. Though Trump may not recognize it, there is global warming. To answer your question directly, there has been a failure in the Keys to the extent described here. A bigger one will arise with Michael.

      • I read some place that the cost to service the debt run up by Trump, just to cover his tax cuts, is more than the cost of all of Medicaid alone. Then what about the 18 billion subsidies to Iowa farmers because of the China Tariffs? All of that could be paying for other things, like “promised” disaster relief.

  3. I live in the Keys and we haven’t had a full recovery, even now. I can’t say that’s all Trump’s fault, or really unexpected, it was a big storm. Gov Scott did pretty well, at least at first. But Trump never visited the Keys after the Hurricane. He did however promise Florida unlimited aid, and that bravado, like everything else from him never happened.

  4. I know what they feel like on Mexico Beach after going through Irma here. Step out on the debris covered street and there is silence, no power means silence, night and day. Stillness, no wind, all used up by Irma, I guess.
    Nobody round, nobody to run a generator. On your own for a while. Start clearing the street so you can get out to the highway. Lots of pieces of wood with nails on the road, many flats for the unwary. Later on, clouds of marl dust hanging over the road, then drifting into the open windows
    of the house with dead AC. 15mph raises no dust.

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