THE WILMA FILES, DAY 1. THE ANSWER MY FRIEND IS BLOWIN' IN THE WIND

No, I don't have power yet. I'm borrowing power from Starbucks in Weston, Florida. More on that later. I'll post as much as I can as soon as I can. Here's Part 1 of my hurricane journal. Thanks for all the well wishes. They mean so much to me. Click the new Flickr badge in the sidebar for the rest of the pictures. The picture with the "Welcome to Plantation" sign is the first picture and it goes in order from there.

Monday, 10/24/05 5:30 a.m.
She’s coming. No last minute wobbles. Hurricane-expert weatherman Bryan Norcross shows the projected path passing seemingly right over Plantation. I’ve got a great view out my sliding glass door. The trees are already swaying madly. I’m guessing the wind’s blowing a steady 40 mph…

6:53 a.m.
After two years of glancing blows, this one’s for real. The power just went out…

11:33 a.m.
Norcross tells me it’s “all clear” to go outside although by the looks of things, you’d never know. The wind is still ripping at a good 40 mph clip. I’m taking my camera and I’m gonna check it out…

2:00 p.m.
I’ve taken it all in and thought about my experience. Here’s a quiz for you…

What makes you stare out the window like a little kid and gawk at nature’s fury?

What makes you inexplicably utter aloud things like, “Whoa, Oh my god, Jesus Christ (sorry), Unreal, Unbelievable, Fascinating?”

What causes huge trees to snap like toothpicks?

What makes the view outside your sliding glass door look like a full-fledged wind tunnel?

What makes you wonder whether the glass door will blow in at any moment?

What causes these loud mysterious crashing sounds all around you?

What makes the daytime look like nighttime?

What makes us so curious that we must step outside and experience what 100 mph fury feels like?

What makes roof tiles fly in the air so easily as if they were but Legos?

What makes the clouds zoom by as if you were looking at time-lapsed photography?

Where did the phrase, “The calm before the storm,” come from?

What returns us to simple times of days gone by? Times of a.m. radio, candlelight, food from a can, and self-entertainment?

What turns a beautiful tropical complex into something resembling a jungle in the middle of a war zone?

What turns lush Florida palm trees into something more closely resembling a pencil?

What causes almost 3 million South Florida residents to lose power?

What causes neighbors’ faces to look like they’ve just seen a ghost?

What makes this surrealistic scene all seem like a bad dream?

Why do all the King’s horses and all the King’s men have to put Humpy, err, South Florida back together again?

Everybody sing, “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind…”