FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. – Hurricane Florence is not far from me. I’m in a place called Fayette County, Georgia – and I’m here for my elderly Mom, who has been sick. Earlier this year, she couldn’t walk – now she’s up and moving and using any excuse to shop at the local Kroger’s. Mom is about to turn 84 October 1st, but in her mind she’s still 64, and she makes a good argument to back her claim. I’m afraid to go back to Oakland and leave her by herself – it’s not her condition at all, it’s just me.
I wish some of the family in Tennessee and South Carolina and California and Chicago would come on down. We’d love to see them.
I’m supposed to be here for Mom, even as I maintain payments on my place in Oakland, video-blog and blog about Oakland and pretty much every other place on the planet, if the trend moves me that way.
But I am in Fayette County, Georgia, and Hurricane Florence is not far from me. In fact, it’s a good three hour drive away. But I keep wondering if the damn thing’s going to change it’s collective mind (Do hurricane’s have minds?) and say to itself “Wonder what Fayette County, Georgia’s like? Maybe I can catch a MARVEL movie as they’re making it, over there.”
One thing about staying in a place known for hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods, is you’re constantly on alert. It’s one thing to be in earthquake country, where you don’t know when the ground’s going to shake – that’s scary. But there’s something equally frightening about not knowing exactly what path a giant weather storm will take. Forget Godzilla, Hurricane Florence is the real life giant monster.
100,000 without power, and already millions of dollars of damage. You would think, in this day and age, a kind of cheap mini-power source that costs only $100 could be had that would serve as a backup generator, right? I’d bet someone’s working on an idea that just needs the right amount of funding…
So, those in Oakland or whereever you are, say a prayer this Hurricane Florence dissipates to nothingness fast. I’m not into predicting the path of giant monsters.
Stay tuned.