What a relief!  I’m glad that only the clean-up remains, as Irma finishes its pass through Florida.  As a father, it’s a hopeless feeling being thousands of miles away from a son threatened with losing his home or worse.  In my mind, all of Florida would be under water today, and my son would be sorting through the remnants of his home.  In reality, he’s simply facing power outages, as he removes the plywood from his windows.  When I look at a satellite view of his neighborhood on Google Earth, I don’t see any flooding.  The family is safe and they have access to plenty of food.  Florida’s Governor feels like his state received only a “glancing blow” from Irma rather than the “direct hit to the face” that he was expecting.

Most of what I worry about doesn’t happen, and most of the hassles that I imagine never materialize.  Some might say that I’m lucky. but it’s all by design.  I live my life with what I call “cautious pessimism,” worrying about everything that could go wrong, so it won’t happen.  I liken it to buying insurance so you don’t need it.  Even if a tragedy does occur, it will never be to the extent that I envisioned.  For me, it’s mental damage control.  (See Post #68)

The residents of Florida had over a week to prepare for one of nature’s biggest challenges.  It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, as the storm cut a path across the state. Fortunately the death toll was low, as those affected  had time to evacuate and/or seek safe shelter.  My son and his family were secure at a nearby High School, as Irma passed through his neighborhood. This was not the case 16 years ago today, as terrorists attacked the World Trade Center.  Everyone was caught by total surprise, and the 2,996 deaths reflect the inability to prepare.  I’m glued to the television today, just as I was back then.   Both events took place in areas where we frequently visited.  We had stood on top of the observation deck two years before the buildings were destroyed, just as we’ve recently walked the Gulf Coast beaches of Florida.   Two entirely different situations, one generated by hatred and the other by Mother Nature, but both affected me personally.  Today I reflect on the loss of lives from 9/11, while feeling the relief of dodging a bullet from Irma.

Maybe I was rewarded by the restless nights and constant worry over Irma with a happy ending?   It was, however, not a happy ending for many property owners in Florida.  What I envisioned in my son’s neighborhood became reality in other parts of the state.  Trees are down, homes torn-apart and flooded, cars totally submerged, jobs and lives threatened, and animals in danger, as is also the case in Houston thanks to Harvey.   I sit here warm and dry in Portland, threatened only by smoke from area fires.  It doesn’t seem fair!

Today is also day number 254 of my retirement.  As was my goal, this is also Post #254, having finally achieved my plan of writing one article a day for this blog.  I got off to a very slow start in January and February, but have slowly caught-up to my one-a-day plan.  As I think back to 9/11, it was about this time in the morning that I walked into my office and saw the second plane do its damage.  I had about an hour commute to work, and heard some reports on the radio, but it wasn’t until I saw the scene on television that it really hit home.  I think we all remember where we were that day, and over the next week we were all seeking answers for what had happened.  As I watch Today’s coverage of Irma, I’m actually surprised that the damage wasn’t more.  I still wonder why some people suffer more than others when these tragedies occur?  I was prepared for the worst, and got the best.  What a relief!