And I know I’ve said it before, but I really did think that
Brandon and I were about to lose everything. I wasn’t trying to be negative or
pessimistic, but I had to prepare my heart for the idea that, when my escape
from Irma was complete, I might really come back to nothing. A few years ago,
Brandon and I had impact windows put on our house, and I am very glad that we
have that protection. But impact windows mean nothing if your roof gets blown
off or if the walls of your house cave in, and that is a very real fear in a
Category 4 or 5 hurricane. Normal structures just can’t stand up to that level
of wind! If you are unfamiliar with the impact different levels of hurricanes
can have on a house, there is a great (and short) video here.
At the point I was preparing to leave, all of the tracks
being published showed a Category 5 hurricane heading straight for our city.
So, yeah, I thought we might lose everything. And so I had to decide what things
I wanted to save by putting them in the car and dragging them with me across
what would end up being four states (although I didn’t know that at the time).
So here’s the list:
First, I packed a crate with essential paperwork, as
mentioned in my previous post. Into that crate went our homeowners’ and flood
insurance policies, as well as birth certificates, marriage license, social
security cards, passports, and things like that. I also put some magazines in
the crate – not because I cared about losing them, but because I thought I
might have time to read while I was away. I didn’t.
Into that crate also went electronics, such as two external
hard drives, on which we have stored all of our backup digital photos and
music. Also my iPad, my Nook, and an old tablet. At this point, I asked myself
why I own all three of these things (on top of a computer and a smartphone,
both of which would be packed later). And this is probably a question I should
spend some time pondering, but packing the car for my escape from Irma was not
the time to do so.
Along with these “essentials,” I also brought all the cash I
could find in the house (why leave it?), as well as extra cash I had gotten out
of the bank for “just in case” purposes. And I brought my stash of gift cards.
This is maybe the first silly thing that made it into the crate (well, the
magazines ended up being silly too, but I couldn’t have known that at the time).
But I figured they are small and easy to transport, and, hey, if we lose
everything, at least we have one dinner out at Olive Garden to look forward to.
With the crate of essentials ready to go, I got to work packing
other things. Obviously, I needed clothes with me. Looking back, my decisions
regarding clothes were different from all the other decisions I made about what
to bring. I packed the clothes I imagined I’d need for a few days away; it
never even occurred to me to pack more (or my favorite) clothes in order to
save them from Irma’s destruction. I guess I made the decision this way because
I am not incredibly attached to any of my clothes. Of course, I have a few
favorite pieces, but they are just clothes, and I’m not sentimental about them in
any way. Still, a day or so later, it occurred to me that it would have been so
easy to bring more of them along on my journey. I remember thinking, “If we
really do lose everything in the house, the clothes in my duffel bag are the
ONLY clothes I will own.” Rebuilding a wardrobe was not going to be cheap, but
the decision was made, and it was too late to change it at that point.
I packed two coolers. One of them was full of beer and
whiskey. Yup, I’m admitting that, and all I’m going to say to justify it is
that I figured we might just need it! I actually packed a good portion of our
whiskey collection too. Brandon and I consider ourselves whiskey connoisseurs, and
we’ve grown quite a nice collection. It’s something we enjoy doing together,
and it’s something we’ve spent quite a bit of money on over the years. In fact,
we had just done a pretty major re-stock of our two whiskey bars, and it made
me sad to think of so much of it going to waste. Is the whiskey the most important
or valuable thing in our house? Obviously not! But you had better believe I
wasn’t going to leave a nearly full bottle of 15-year Glenfiddich to be washed
away! So, aside from what I’d put in the cooler (unopened and screw-top
bottles), I filled a 12-pack beer box with a few more. How did I choose? Well,
I picked the fullest and the most expensive bottles. The rest went up high in
hopes that they’d still be there when I returned.
Into the other cooler went as much food as I could fit, some
from the fridge and some from the freezer. I knew that, whatever got left would
likely not survive any kind of power outage. This was a truly difficult part of
my packing. I knew I couldn’t bring everything, but I wanted to so badly,
partly because I just really, really dislike wasting food. I understood that
whatever waste occurred would be out of my control, but it was a hard thing for
me to think about – a full freezer’s worth of food going bad in the heat of a
post-Irma world (and that’s IF the fridge and freezer made it through the
storm!).
In addition, the reason the freezer was so packed was that I’d
spent the last week of my summer doing meal preparations for the coming weeks
and months. I’d made an absolutely ridiculous amount of food in my crock pot
and frozen the majority of it, so that Brandon and I would have lunches and
dinners once school started and I didn’t have time to cook. So not only was I
thinking of how much food would be wasted, I was also thinking of how much of
my time and energy would go right along with it. I was truly disheartened by
the thought. “It’s just food,” Brandon said. I knew that, of course, and I knew
there were more important things to worry about than my frozen crock pot meals
(far less valuable, financially-speaking, than the clothes I hadn’t been
worried about leaving behind). But still, this was hard for me to take. Feelings
can’t always be explained, especially those felt in the lead-up to this
possibly catastrophic event, but I do have a theory as to why I was so affected
by the potential loss of my food.
Always having food ready for lunches and dinners is one of
the major ways that I take care of my family. It is one of the ways that I show
love. I truly enjoy cooking, but I don’t have the time to come home and do it
every night of the week. So I’ve found a way to ensure that there will always
be food for lunches and dinners for both Brandon and me, no matter how busy my
life gets. I make fresh food when I have time, but more often than not, I don’t;
so I keep the freezer stocked and, therefore, never have to worry about where
our next meal is coming from. So, while the food itself might not be all that
important, what it says about me and how I care for my family is. And I think
that’s why I took it so hard that I was leaving so much of it behind to rot.
So let’s see: Coolers, clothes, and the crate of essentials.
After these things, my packing was just about done. I had everything I needed
and probably a lot of stuff I didn’t. But then I started thinking about what
else I should try to save. I consulted Brandon, and he told me to pack a few
valuables and a few sentimentals, but I had no idea where that list would even
start. Photo albums? Most of our pictures are digital, and I’d already packed
the backup hard drives, so photo albums seemed quite replaceable. Still, I
grabbed the two that meant the most to me – one from my year in India and one
from our honeymoon. I grabbed Brandon’s GoPro because that is pretty valuable
and is stored in an easy-to-carry case. And I grabbed my pearl necklace because
that is both valuable and sentimental. My teddy bear (the one Brandon gave me
for our very first Valentine’s Day back in 2001) was a no-brainer, but after
these few things, I stopped.
I didn’t really know what else was valuable or sentimental
enough to make it into the car, and I was going a little crazy trying to make
that decision. In the end, I did something that seems ridiculous looking back
but was the most rational decision I could make at the time. I started thinking
of the smallest things in the house that would be expensive to replace. And
this is where the list of things I packed becomes a bit ridiculous (if it wasn’t
already). Things that made it into the car during this crazed moment of my life
included makeup and other personal care and hygiene items. I think I packed
about a dozen lipsticks, along with a whole slew of other self-care products. Silly,
right? But these items fit the bill – small and somewhat expensive to replace.
I further rationalized this decision by telling myself that, when a hurricane
is ravaging your home and all of your belongings, it might feel good to look
good! In the end, I think I managed to slap some concealer and eyeliner on my
face (no lipstick) only once while I was away, and I certainly didn’t take time
out of any of my days to give myself a charcoal mask treatment! I really had to
roll my eyes at myself for this decision once I got home and unpacked.
Also included in the small-but-expensive category was my
small-but-growing collection of essential oils. They come in tiny jars and are
easy enough to transport, so they got to come along for the journey too. And I
don’t have any further rationalization for this decision. Other ridiculous
items that made it into the car at the last minute and for which I have no
rationalization include a beach blanket and beach towel (I mean, you never know
when an impending hurricane might put you in the mood for a swim, right?). My
school bag came along too. This bag is ALWAYS with me, and it served as a
carrying case for my computer, so bringing it wasn’t ridiculous, but the idea
that I might do some grading while I was gone definitely was!
There are probably a few things I’m forgetting, but this
about sums up what went into my car for my escape from Hurricane Irma. Of
course, I also had 11 gallons of extra fuel, and, even with that, I’m pretty
proud to say that there was room to spare in my car! When I saw the small
amount of empty space left in my backseat, I was tempted to go find something
to fill it with. (More whiskey? More lipsticks, perhaps!) But I was absolutely
exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally from this whirlwind of
decision-making. It was 5 pm on Wednesday, September 6, and, after all I’d put
my body, mind, and soul through over the past 24 hours, I still had what would
turn out to be a six-hour drive ahead of me.
I hit the road. I stopped after pulling out onto the street
and took one last look at my house. I was already second-guessing every
decision I’d made about what to bring. I called Brandon, worried I’d forgotten
something. He told me to just keep going. I did. And then I called him again,
worried that I’d brought way too much stuff. He told me to just keep going. I
did.
I made it to Jacksonville around 11 that night, with a full
tank of gas, my 11 gallons of reserve fuel untouched, and all the lipstick a
girl might need to survive a hurricane!
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