We get it; we live in a hurricane zone.
It was the wettest of times; it was the driest of times. I know nature is a mother, but I still can’t accept the concept of having a tropical storm and a hurricane within 30 days of each other, while there is a drought. Our little town of Mayberry-By-The-Sea came thru Hurricane Mathew relatively well. The only serious damage was that the town pier was destroyed by the hurricane, and now we have the hurricane of debate over how to fix it, and where does the money come from. We lost a few shingles and had some loose siding. We were good little boys and girls and evacuated inland, as directed, to an area that lost power sooner, and flooded more than Surfside Beach. We did follow the directions about bringing food, water, flashlights and batteries with us, so when we lost power; we were the only people in our hotel with lighting.
We had a great time in April at Ginny and Dennis’ wedding. It was a wonderful ceremony and reception. We were able to see some old friends, and meet new ones as we met most of Dennis’ family. As a bonus, we got snow the day we left, something we managed to avoid the entire time we were home for Christmas. At least it wasn’t during the wedding.
We had planned to make two more trips north this year. We planned to go to Pocono to a track event, but when the weather called for 100 percent chance of rain in the mountains that weekend, I canceled. Of course, it was bright and sunny. The next trip was what I called, “The Guilt Trip” in October. Rocco complained to Auntie that he was missing her, and it had been sooooo long since he had seen her. Of course, her iron will melted like sunscreen in August, and a trip was planned. We were leaving the day they closed 95 in North Carolina for massive flooding, and we heard horror stories about 12 hour drives from Virginia, a trip that normally takes 5 hours. So that trip was a no go. We’ll see how well our return for Christmas 2016 works. We did make a trip to Florida in September to see Marc and Kelly, and watch the Red Sox beat Tampa twice. Carolyn got to see Big Papi’s next-to-last homer and a Pedroia grand slam.
The FitzMaurice Inn at Surfside was a pretty busy place. We had veterans and first-timers to the Redneck Riviera. It’s fun to show people around our area, and just relax at the beach or the pool. Living here, we tend to forget that it’s there. I tell people “We live where we used to vacation and vacation where we used to live.” Company reminds us of the wide variety of people in our lives, and how strong the connection can be.
We got some good news in July. MaryEllen and Bob announced their engagement, to be married in 2017. At first, I was skeptical about the whole thing, I mean what did Bob ever do to me? I like the guy; shouldn’t I stop him from doing this? In all seriousness, we both wish them the best, and are looking forward to another Connecticut wedding. Inspired, or relieved by this announcement, Maryellen’s daughter Jami and her boyfriend George also announced their engagement. No date yet, but we’ll be there.
On a sad note, Marc’s wife Kelly passed away from cancer in November. She was diagnosed a year ago, fought the best she could, and will be severely missed. We were able to see her when we were in Tampa; she was gracious and funny as always. Please keep Marc and Kelly in your thoughts.
We’re pretty settled in here. Carolyn volunteers at the Humane Society and is threatening to bring a cat home. She joined a crocheting circle that required her to join the Moose Lodge, since I’m an Elk, insert joke about animals in the bedroom here. My job is doing well, and the future looks good. Every decade it seems I injure myself, and as I type this, I’m wearing a restraint boot on my left leg for an injury. I’m getting very good at walking like a pirate. Arggggh! Enjoy!
Kevin & Carolyn