Days of Thunder

There's been a change in the weather lately.  Cloudy, windy and rainy.  I like it.  It takes the temperature down from searing to plain boiling.  That's a win situation.  It may be strange that a person who doesn't love the heat finds herself in temperatures that hang mostly in the early 30s for a large proportion of the year.  Plus, I've got a pasty complexion that freckles even on cloudy days (yay my bonny Scottish heritage). On the beach, I'm like a vampire, hovering in the shadows in long sleeves, dark sunglasses and a hat.  Nobody should wear headwear and sunglasses at the same time.  It makes you look like you are wearing a disguise.

Who's that girl?

So with the change in weather, I'm feeling pretty chipper.  Of course when the elements really roll in we have to go into shutdown mode, and heave giant 5 metre high doors made of thick wood, by pulling  chains, and then slotting these giant planks into the closing position.  It doesn't always work.  It can also be a bit extreme if the winds have already kicked in.  Often giant puddles of water blow in from under the doors.  The floor gets slippery too.  Denting the back of your head on a concrete floor is no Swiss picnic either.

They they are - the big wooden bastards

We happen to reside in a part of the Caribbean sea that is outside the hurricane belt. Apparently St Vincent and The Grenadines hadn't had a hurricane for 50 years.  Until October 2010 - our first year here.  We had left 3 days before it hit, and it was a pretty bad one - Hurricane Tomas.   People died, and roads got washed away.  The winds were 153 kmph.  It was the 19th named hurricane of that year.  Obviously a big year for storms.

Wouldn't you just move to Denmark or something?

Going nowhere in a hurry 

Hurricane Tomas does it's best

About four years ago, we were living in the Cayman Islands when a hurricane warning went out.  People were evacuating, and the whole island shut up shop.  It was so strange in the day before.  All shop windows were boarded up, the news and radio reported nothing but the approaching storm.  The supermarkets were jammed packed with people buying water, candles, torches, batteries and tinned food.  I think I might have wrestled a woman over a can of peaches.  I don't even like them that much, I was just getting in the spirit of panic.  We were living right on the beach, and had heard the tales of storm surges sweeping through properties.  The hurricane doors were rolled down, and we put everything up off the floor in case of floods.  We could see it approaching, and as we prepared for the onslaught, at the last minute it changed direction and we only copped the tail end of it.  It's so wrong to say this - but I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.  Ask me if I was glad about the hurricane's fury while I was being drowned by a storm surge, and I'm sure I would have foregone the stormy excitement.

This is what it looked like from our apartment as it drew close

According to the island's residents, it really was a miracle.  People were actually shouting hallelujah in streets.  Actually just one man was, and he could have been insane.  Although, there were a few "praise the lord"s coming from the supermarket when I next went shopping.  It was unfortunate to have a cupboard full of 10 litre containers of water, candles and dried peaches though.  Peach melba anyone?  However, you can't blame residents for being jumpy.  When hurricane Ivan ripped through in 2004 with 280 kmph winds (no shit!), it stayed for two days, and totally flattened the island, putting services out for 6 weeks.

Ivan literally ripped it up

I also had the not so joy of experiencing one of Japan's infamous typhoons.  This time in Hokkaido.  It hit me by surprise - mainly because i didn't spend any time watching the Japanese news.  I value ignorance when living in other lands.  Actually, I value it all the time - it's such a sweet sweet world to reside in.  All I knew, is that I awoke to the sound of banging and smashing and really loud wind.  I wasn't sure if I was still meant to go to work, but decided not to risk the bludge (I was saving all sick days up to take a proper holiday of illness).  I subsequently proceeded to trot off down the street to catch the bus.  It didn't escape my notice that I was the only person on the street.  I also didn't escape my notice that I was having to dodge pieces of tree, airborne rubbish and at one stage, shards of glass (that freaked me out a bit).  I got to the bus stop, and amazingly there were actually other idiots people there.  It was a relief.  Although a short-lived one.

We all waited for ages, I picked countless empty packet of soy sauce out of my hair, and removed flying animae porn pages from my torso.  Finally a bus official came.  He offered a few words to a panicked crowd (ok, a panicked me - everybody else seemed like they were off on a trip to the museum), and proceeded to bundle us all onto a bus.  I was a touch on the concerned side when it took off in the wrong direction, and started making frantic phonecalls to work.  Meanwhile, the bus was rocking, pushbikes and branches were blowing into car windscreens, and parts of roofs were starting to peel off the houses next to us.  I was glancing around in horror, but everybody else seemed to be dozing, checking their phones or reading mags.  It was like I was in a movie where I was the only person aware of the approaching apocalypse as everybody else pottered around in blissful oblivion.  Eventually I made it to work.  And more unbelievably, some of my bloody students turned up.  Jesus, they won't even use their impending doom as an excuse to miss a lesson. Dam their conscientiousness, dam it  I say.  Seriously, I want to know - why would you risk your wellbeing to go to class?  I was getting paid, I had an excuse.  I honestly was not that good a teacher believe you me.  Curiouser and curiouser.

I saw a friend of mine not long after, and noticed she had stitches from the bottom of her little finger halfway down to her elbow.  "What the hell happened" I asked.  She had been looking out her window at the typhoon when a large piece of wood had crashed through.  She put her hand up to defend her face.  It looked pretty bad.  See, it was safer on the streets.

Run Emily RUN!

So, as you can tell I'm all for a bit of storytime based around escapes from disaster.  Whether it's hurricanes, bogan bashers, tsunamis, out of control drivers, failed bomb plots, bears (I'll save that one for next time) or my own children's birth.  There has never been any escape from that final disaster though - it just keeps on giving..... However, I doubt anything is going to become of the current weather we've been having.  In fact, the sun is already out and shining as I write.  I guess it's back to the shadows for me.......

Beautiful Bequia