ODILE, DONTCHA' COME AROUND HERE ANYMORE

WELL, THAT WAS DIFFERENT. I'M NOT SURE WHAT KIND OF NAME "ODILE" IS, BUT I REALLY DON'T WANT TO ENCOUNTER THAT GUY AGAIN. THE STRONGEST HURRICANE TO HIT THE BAJA SINCE THE EARLY 1970'S, THE "BIG O" SURPRISED THE PREDICTORS AND US BY HOOKING EAST IN THE LAST FEW HOURS AS IT APPROACHED THE TIP, SO INSTEAD OF PARALLELING THE COAST ON THE PACIFIC SIDE IT ROARED OVER CABO, BREACHED THE MOUNTAINS THAT NORMALLY PROTECT LA PAZ FROM DIRECT ONSLAUGHT, AND LANDED SQUARELY ON OUR HOUSE. BY MIDNIGHT SUNDAY THE NOISE IN THE HOUSE WAS AS IF OUR HOUSE WERE A GIANTS' COKE BOTTLE AND HE WAS BLOWING ACROSS THE TOP. ABOUT 4:30 OR SO I DECIDED TO HEAD DOWNTOWN IN ORDER TO CHECK ON OUR STALWART CUSTOMERS AND 4 BLOCKS FROM HOME STUCK MY CAR IN 3 FEET OF MUD. WALKING HOME IN THE DRIVING RAIN AND 85 MPH WIND WAS A HUMBLING JOURNEY. STARTING OUT ONCE MORE IN JANES' LOYAL ESCORT I WAS ABLE TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE TOWN, AVOIDING THE NORMALLY FLOODED SPOTS AND DODGING DOWN WIRES. HOUSE INTACT, CUSTOMERS PEERING OUT INTO THE CAULDRON THAT WAS LA PAZ BAY. AFTER DAY BREAK RICKY Z. AND I HEADED DOWN TO CHECK ON THE "DIRE WOLF", SON CHRIS' BOAT. WE HAD TAKEN PRECAUTIONS, WITH THE HELP OF SEVERAL VERY HELPFUL LOCALS AT THE MARINA, TO TIE IT UP TO THINGS OF SUBSTANCE, AND AWAY FROM POTENTIAL PROJECTILES. I WAS LOATHE TO LOOK AS I REALLY DIDN'T WANT TO CALL CAPT. CHRIS, WHO WAS ENSCONCED IN SAN DIEGO, AND TELL HIM THAT HIS PRIDE AND JOY WAS NO MORE. "HUZZAH", I MUMBLED AS I SAW HIS BEAUTIFUL BOAT, BOBBING JUST LIKE A BOAT, OCCASIONALLY SPITTING WATER FROM A REAR ORIFICE, BILGE PUMP YOU KNOW. SO, IN A PHRASE, THE BIG THINGS HERE, IE. FAMILY, FRIENDS, HOUSES, DOG, BOATS, ETC., ARE JUST FINE. THE LITTLE THINGS WERE EXTREMELY AWRY. TREES, POWER POLES, TALL PEOPLE, SIGNAGE, PARKING LOT SHADES THROWN AROUND LIKE A LARGE 3 YEAR OLD WAS DONE PLAYING WITH THEM. BY NOW ANY OF YOU WHO WERE INTERESTED HAVE SEEN THE PICTURES, SO I'M NOT PUTTING ANY IN, BUT SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT ANY BUILDINGS BUILT POORLY, THINGS THAT WEREN'T ANCHORED SOUNDLY, OR ANYTHING DEPENDING UPON OUR SODDEN SOIL FOR SUPPORT WERE DISPLACED IN SOME FASHION OR OTHER, SOMETIMES BY HUNDREDS OF YARDS. WITHIN A DAY OR TWO MARKETS STARTED TO OPEN, GAS STATIONS HAD LINES BUT ALSO GAS, AND FOLKS WERE ALREADY OUT CLEANING UP. IT TOOK US 4 DAYS AT THE HOUSE AND 5 DAYS AT THE OFFICE TO GET POWER (REMEMBER THAT DOWN HERE POWER MEANS WATER), AND AS OF THIS WRITING 90% OF LA PAZ IS POWERED. CABO IS A DIFFERNET STORY, MASSIVE DESTRUCTION THERE OF BOTH POORLY BUILT RESIDENCES AND FANCY HOTELS BUILT ON THE EXPOSED SOUTHERN SHORE. YOU CAN CHECK THE INTERNET FOR COUNTLESS STORIES OF RUINED BACHELORETTE PARTIES, BUT THAT'S NOT FOR HERE. EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW, MY FAMILY, ALL THE CAPTAINS, DRIVERS, ETC. ARE FINE, AND IN FACT WE HAD FISHERMEN OUT BY WEDNESDAY.
I DID WANT TO MENTION A COUPLE OF HEROIC FIGURES IN ALL THIS. THE CFE (OUR ELECTRICITY PROVIDER), WITH WHOM YOU LONG TERM READERS WILL KNOW I HAVE HAD MY PROBLEMS IN THE PAST, PERFORMED AND IS PERFORMING IN A FASHION OF WHICH THEY SHOULD BE PROUD. AS THE STORM WAS HITTING CABO THE AVAILABLE EQUIPMENT AND PERSONNEL FROM LA PAZ HEADED SOUTH TO ASSIST. AS THE IMPACT TO LA PAZ BECAME APPARENT THEY SHIPPED LITERALLY HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE AND PIECES OF EQUIPMENT HERE BY FERRY FROM THE MAINLAND, AND THEY WERE ON THE SCENE VERY QUICKLY. THEY HAVE DONE A MAGNIFICENT JOB OF THEIR JOB AND I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE THEM KUDOS TO THE MAX.
THE OTHER FIGURE WHOSE PERFORMANCE I AM IN AWE OF HAS BEEN MY WIFE, JANE. WHILE I WAS AT THE OFFICE TRYING TO MAKE THINGS WORK FOR OUR CUSTOMERS SHE TOOK CHARGE OF OUR HOUSE. GOING IMMEDIATELY TO WORK, SHE FISHED ALL KINDS OF THINGS FROM THE SWIMMING POOL, SWEPT AND MOPPED BOTH INSIDE AND OUT, AND RECRUITED A COUPLE OF TEENAGERS WHO WERE PASSING BY, AND SOON ALL 3 OF THEM WERE HACKING' BRANCHES, MOVING 400 POUND HORIZONTAL CACTUS AND GENERALLY REASSEMBLING THE OUTER SHELL OF OUR EXISTENCE. ALL OF THIS WITHOUT ANY POWER FOR ICE, TOILETS, OR SHOWERS, FOR DAYS. WITHOUT A WHIMPER OR A GRUMBLE SHE WAS AN EXAMPLE THAT I HAD TO STRUGGLE HARD TO HONOR. IN THE WORDS OF CAPT. ROMERO, "SHE'S MY HERO #1."
CABO AIRPORT REMAINS CLOSED, BUT WITHIN 5-7 DAYS MY SOURCES SAY THAT THEY WILL JURY RIG FACILITIES, LA PAZ AIRPORT IS OPEN AND OPERATING, LORETO THE SAME. THE PEOPLE HERE HAVE IN GREAT PART RISEN TO THE CHALLENGE AND WILL PERSEVERE, AND TRIUMPH.
NICE TALKIN' TO YA',
DAVID