When a huge storm in the ocean heads inland toward where one of our children live, we mothers automatically go into panic mode. It doesn’t matter if they are sixty years old, we still want to protect them, and, it doesn’t matter if old mom is aware they are intelligent people who know how to prepare for landfall of a category 2 hurricane. I shuddered watching the news recently when Hurricane Sally turned her sights on their shore between Mobile, Alabama and Orange Beach. My oldest daughter and some of her family live on a ridge in that area. I often visit them and enjoy their company, the beautiful views, and seafood, but this is different. We enjoy the fruits of the ocean and must also take extra care when the ocean decides to roil up and come for a visit.
As Sally played with our nerves, moving slowly toward shore, teasing us as to where she would land, I listened to what I could find on the news, and was not happy to hear the tunnels in Mobile were flooded. I spent a sleepless night reading a book and thinking of all the possibilities, and at first light, I called my daughter. She soothed my worries by saying, “Mom, those tunnels flood often, and there are pumps to get the water out. This is just a Cat 1, nothing more than a strong storm.” But by the time we woke the next morning, Sally was a Cat 2 unwanted visitor as she came stomping over the landscape, wreaking havoc on my daughter’s neighborhood. Trees were torn up by the roots, landing on houses, and one – only half a block from my daughter’s house -was totally demolished. Other trees were broken off or fell, blocking roads and knocking out all electricity. She said it was eerie when the eye of the storm passed over. All became quiet until the outside wall hit.
She was more fortunate than most, as she had no damage this time, and she has a generator and natural gas stove and water heater, so she could cook and not have to take a cold shower when the power in the entire area was off for five days. She admitted it was a worse storm than they had expected.
After touring her damaged neighborhood and talking to her neighbors, she made a huge pot of spaghetti and invited them all over for a meal. She found there were no injuries, except for her husband, who sustained a deep cut on his arm from a falling branch. Another danger averted, this mom sighed and put her worries on hold. We moms never quit being moms even when our daughters are smarter than we are, I think. Sometimes Mother Nature reminds us just who is in charge. Until the next time.
PJ Renfroe, founder of the Heritage Writer’s Group, is a native Georgian who has been writing “all her life.” She continues to try to please her nine grandchildren; her biggest fans and strictest critics!
