Tag Archives: news

Will the Snow Arrive?

9 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Eillis

As I write this, western North Carolina is hunkering down for a big winter storm. Hunker down is a Florida phrase in hurricane season. I’m not sure what the proper term is here so until I know better, I’m hunkering down.

HUNKER DOWN!

Photo is AI generated

In Florida my hunker down prep was all about food. I started with the most basic, coffee. Must have coffee. At the start of hurricane season we made sure we had propane for our Coleman camp stove so making coffee would be no problem. Hurricane stress requires snacks. Lots of snacks. Highly processed lunch meats and hot dogs are awful, but they don’t spoil easily. Of course, plenty of Peanut butter and bread are a must along with bottles of water. Oh, and must not forget ice for keeping foods chilled in the ice chest.

Photo is AI generated

Hunkering down for a snow storm is different. Our biggest concern is water. Our water is supplied by a community well and that pump does not like cold weather. Usually there is a switch that needs to be flipped back on but last year it froze. Some of the men used hair blow dryers to thaw it.

We’ve filled empty gallon water jugs with water for dish washing and er…other things. In the kitchen I filled up pitchers with water because coffee must be available!

Photo is AI generated

I don’t need to worry about food spoilage. The garage is colder than the refrigerator. I didn’t stock up on snacks since we are trying to eat very low carb. I may come to seriously regret this decision.

I’ve loaded my iPad and my Kindle with books to read should the power go out. I have also charged up my battery power bank. Unlike during a hurricane power outages with miserable heat, I can snuggle under blankets and read.

Even if we don’t lose power, I should have a lot of reading time. The weather predicts that after the snow, there may be ice and that will prolong thawing and as I said, this Florida girl does not drive on ice.

11:00 pm- My phone just buzzed with this warning.

CODE RED WEATHER WARNING.

The warning sounds ominous. So far the skies are mostly clear. The warning goes from 7:00 am tomorrow the 10th to 7:00 am on the 11th.

I really want the snow to arrive. We extended our stay in the mountains in the hope of snow. We didn’t exactly ask for a strong winter storm mixed with ice.

On the other hand, I don’t want the snow to arrive. The people living east of us in the area devastated by Hurricane Helene don’t need this storm. There are still people living in tents. There are people who have no place to sleep being housed in hotels paid for by FEMA. Today FEMA announced they were discontinuing paying for the hotel rooms after previously saying they were extending the vouchers. A huge outcry went up. Volunteers were frantically trying to find funding to keep the people safe. Mercury 1 Charity stepped in to pay for the rooms. By late evening FEMA relented to give the people another 24 hours.

In our 14 years of spending time in the mountains, we have only experienced one big snow storm. Snow makes everything beautiful. And if the storm does arrive, we will be enjoying the beauty for several days because like I said, this Florida girl (and her husband) don’t drive on ice.

This was in 2014.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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Hurricane Helene and Milton: Personal Reflections

22 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Hurricane Helene skimmed the west coast of Florida before making landfall in the big bend area on September 26th. We were thankful that our family on Florida’s West coast didn’t experience any severe winds.

From our home in Western North Carolina we followed the progress of Helene as the storm made its way to inland Georgia. Here in the mountains rainfall totals from a cold front moving through were already at 10 inches, with more to come with Helene.

At some point after we went to bed, in the early morning hours I began receiving flash flood warnings on my phone. We don’t live near water, so I wasn’t concerned for us, but I was for the community. Our town is in a valley with lots of streams.

As we slept, Helene moved to a more eastward track. We woke up to light rain and mild wind gusts. Shortly after arising, our electricity went out. We have underground power so a tree or trees near a feeder line must have come down.

This is all of the yard debris

We were two days without power and three days without phones or internet. Fortunately, a friend in South Carolina didn’t lose any services and suggested we come stay with them. We emptied our freezers into ice chests, gathered up some clothes, loaded the car and with hearts full of gratitude drove to their home.

Once we drove south, we began to have intermittent cell service and I was able to let family and friends know that we were ok.

I checked social media and was horrified to find out about the devastation to the mountains east of us. To this day I am horrified at the death and destruction.

As I write this, I am watching 60 Minutes TV show. It doesn’t even come close to showing the horror. Prayers are appreciated. Donations to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse are still needed. A major need is propane heaters as it is now cold in the mountains and some are living in tents.

Following on the heels of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton flared up in the Caribbean. There was quite a lot of fear about this storm as it rapidly developed into a category 5 hurricane and began a track to Florida’s West coast.

We have family on the West coast and a daughter on the East coast and the track was predicted to move onto land where the West coast family lives and exit on the East coast over where our daughter lives.

Our daughter would be going through the storm on her own, just herself and her dog, Ollie.

Our daughter did her storm preps and prepared to hunker down. I asked if she had hurricane snack foods and she didn’t have any! She worked up until the day of the storm and didn’t have the energy to fight the pre-storm crowds. Well that would not do!

I was able to place a Walmart delivery order that would arrive around 8:30 pm.

I know, a lot of cookies but I wasn’t sure which ones would be available.

Hurricanes tend to spin up tornadoes. As Milton moved through the state, several large, damaging tornadoes touched down south of our daughter’s county. She had prepared for this by creating a “safe place” in her bathroom. She had books, blankets, pillows, candles and even treats for Ollie.

I barely slept the night Milton was crossing Florida. Would she lose power, are there tornadoes near her, what about her car, did anything hit it? I slept better during Helene.

When she called the next morning to say she was fine and had power, I sent up a thank you, God prayer.

The storm wasn’t finished but it would be moving out to sea soon. I was exhausted. Hurricane fatigue is real. Ask anyone who lived in Florida during 2004.

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My Brightline Train Trip-Part 3

6 Mar

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

New Years Day (1/1/2024 Continued)

Our next RideCircuit driver, for the ride back to the Brightline Station,  regaled us with the history and stories of the areas of Fort Lauderdale as we passed thru them, such as what was presently going on in the neighborhood where he lived.

Photo Credit: https://observernewspaperonline.com/2021/11/01/brightline-offers-door-to-door-transportation/

As we passed an old church building, he pointed at it and informed us that it had originally been built in 1921 as the St. Anthony’s Catholic church.  When that parish moved to a larger building in 1949, they sold the building to the Lutheran Evangelical Church and the building’s facade was moved to its present location.  The building was registered as a “Historic Landmark” by the city fathers, and sat vacant for many years.  In 2017 the building was sold to a local developer and the “Holly Blue” Restaurant & Lounge project was begun.  The restoration was finally finished in 2023, and that’s what I call a unique building transformation story.

Photo Credit: https://fortlauderdalecra.com/theabbey/FortLauderdale/neighborhood/

At one point a bunch of young kids on bicycles came riding at us, acting as if they were going to crash into us.  I grabbed the back of the seat in front of me when our driver didn’t slow down, and the cyclists peeled off around our shuttle vehicle, laughing and shouting at us.  When I asked him what that was all about, he told us about the gangs of young kids on bicycles that were stopping and terrorizing motorists in certain areas of Fort Lauderdale, causing the local law enforcement folks a lot of headaches.  He said several cyclists had deliberately run into cars, and then sued the motorists for damages (No money had been awarded to the cyclists that he knew of).

Photo Credit: https://wsvn.com/news/video-shows-dangerous-behavior-involving-bicyclists-cars-in-fort-lauderdale/

Our RideCircuit shuttle driver dropped us off right in front of the Brightline Station.  Billy and I had purchased coach tickets for our return trip, so we didn’t have access to the 1stCClass Lounge at this station.  However, we did inspect the lounge and found that it wasn’t as plush as the one in Orlando, but was still quit comfortable.

Photo Credit: https://www.roadtripsforfamilies.com/fort-lauderdale/

At first, we heard an announcement that our 3:25 train was going to be a few minutes late, but then heard the call that the train was arriving pretty much on-time.  We proceeded to the track-side waiting area, with the other passengers, and watched the train pull into the station.

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

We had purchased a coach tickets for our return trip to compare 1st class seating, comfort, and amenities with that of coach.  Of course, the price was half that of 1stclass seating and that had something to do with our choice of return tickets also

Photo Credit: Bill Lites 

As we boarded the coach car for our return trip, we found our reserved seats (side-by-side with no table) and discovered that coach seating was a little more crowded than 1stclass, and not as roomy as first class seating (No tables between some seats, so less legroom).

Photo Credit: https://www.fox35orlando.com/news/brightline-

The train left the Fort Lauderdale station within a minute or two of our original 3:25 departure time and we were surprised to see that the car we were in was full.  Once we left the Fort Lauderdale station, Billy accessed the “Speed” and “Google Maps” apps on his iPhone so we could keep track of our progress and speed for the return trip.

Photo Credit: https://apps.apple.com/speedometer-speed-tracker

—–To Be Continued—–

Bill is a retired Mechanical engineer living with his wonderful artist/writer wife, DiVoran, of 65 years in Titusville, Florida. He was born and raised in the Southwest, did a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy, attended Northrop University in Southern California and ended up working on America’s Manned Space Program for 35 years. He currently is retired and spends most of his time building and flying R/C model airplanes, traveling, writing blogs about his travels for Word Press and supporting his wife’s hobbies with framing, editing and marketing.  He also volunteers with a local church Car Care Ministry and as a tour guide at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum there in Titusville.  Bill has two wonderful children, two outstanding grandchildren, and a loving sister and her husband, all of whom also live in Central Florida, so he and DiVoran are rewarded by having family close to spend lots of quality time with.

One of Bill’s favorite Scriptures is:  John 10:10

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