It is around 8:30 am on 9-9-09, when I am sending this email from Key West. The wind is blowing pretting good and the tide looks to be about a foot above normal, but not real damage in Key West. We did have some pretty good gust in the weather band starting this morning around 4 pm or so, but I think the upper Keys took and are getting stronger gusts. 50 to 60 mph gusts do not brother us to much, you just have to be careful for flying objects if you are moving around the island, which we plan on getting to our roasting store and staying put. I am looking our my back window and the gusts seem to be steady at around 30 or so.
I think I have said this before, but getting ready for a Hurricane takes about 4 to 6 hours, not counting taking care of the roasting store, then days to get everything back in order. It is just plain stressful sometimes.
Hurricane Wilma a fews years back is a good example of Mother Nature being in full control. You have to listen to the weather folks, as they are good at their jobs, which is saving lives. Wilma stalled and the storm did not hit us until about 3 days after is was suppose to show up. This is what was stressful. Hurry up and wait. If I am recalling correctly the storm passed to the south of Key West with the eye being about 70 miles or so from Key West and the island in a lot places flooded with 3 to 4 feet of water. When the water starting rising it came up fast, which was scary, as you where not sure when it would stop. Our house did not flood, nor our store, but we have lots of friends who took 4 feet of water in their homes.
I saw some video from Cuba with Hurricane Ike and it was unreal, with, they said 50 foot waves, hitting the shorelines. Knock on Wood, we were lucky. I really thought Ike was going to be like Wilma, keeping us waiting for days, before making the final move toward the Keys.
We are headed down to the roasting store this morning to put everything back together. We put all our equipment and beans as high off the floor as possible, then wrapped and sealed everything. This took a day. So we will work most of the morning on the reset, get some rest and start roasting. Roasting is Zen for me.
During Hurricane Wilma, my oldest son stayed with me, (Trey - Smugglers Brew) he is in Tampa these days at school and it was Brandons (Beemers Breakfast Blend) turn this storm - note - if we think we are going to take a direct hit - We are out of here.
Anyway, as the water started rising during Wilma for some reason I walk out front to see the water in the street and check on the cars, which ended up going under water. The water was moving with a fast current. We we have a 18 foot skiff, which was on a trailer out front. When I looked down the drive way toward the boat, it was beginning to float on the trailer and move down the road. We had to wade into the swift current to tie a line to the boat trailer, then the other end to a palm tree. While we were doing this a plastic trash can floated by and my son told me to look at the trash can, as it had a rider - an Iguana. Everything in life seem to freeze, just for a moment, as the Iguana looked at me, then its head turn toward Trey, then it look forward to where it was headed on its ship, as to say it is safe this way. It seem some of sort of communication had taken place. The Iguana had no control of its ship, but the path was straight toward the high mangroves, so no help was needed on its part.
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