As you can tell it has been awhile since I have posted because of Hurricane Ivan which knocked out my power from Wednesday night all the way till sunday morning. On this experience I could easily write a novel on the past four days but I will just some it up and give you the gist of what exactly happened.
As far as actual events goes, for the four days I did not have power I was very privalaged to work with the Bruner family on Okaloosa island when the law enforcement would not allow anyone out on the island. It was pretty hard work but at the same time it was a lot of fun because after the hurricane it was clear skies for the rest of the days. What really stinks is that the Holiday Inn Sunpree which we had fought so hard to lay sand bags for, is totally devestated with the first floor being busted through and the rest of the rooms having moisture and mildew. This led us on the first day of recovery to open every single door and window in every room (approx. 210) so that fresh air could get in every unit and air it out. But one thing that has some benneficial view to it is that even the day after the hurricane we started with the recovery process where as the other high rise owners are weeks behind even though it has only been a few days.
But throughout all the physical aspects of this hurricane some good and bad things have happened which have led me to some new thoughts.
1). With the power being out I walked outside and turned off my flash light and I came to the realization of how much power effects us in our everyday life. Normally America's night time really isn't that dark due to light pollution sources. But with the power out all of a sudden you really get to feel the darkness. As I walked outside on Thursday night I looked up and there were so many stars out it was hard to tell one from the other. This event literally had the hairs all over my body standing up because it was the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. I then layed down on the grass and realized how much having no electrical power slowed down our lives. I came to an actual realization of how it might have been with the cave man, where all the work you could do was during the day and at night you had very minimal, if any light to do any work by. In fact, I realized that the lack of power was a welcoming joy because in a way it slowed my life down almost to a halt and allowed me to "smell the roses" which was wonderful. Even though having no power may be an incoveince to some, I gladly welcome it with a warm handshake for I believe that it brought me and sincerity that can only be experienced in nature.
2).We always know somebody that is close to us saying, "you should always be thankful for everything you have," and I am normally one of those people. But these past few days I experienced another revelation that made me realize just how good we have it. A few months ago Drew and I would hang out at the holiday inn and just hang out there either at the pool, hot tub, in one of the rooms at, at the bar, or even at the life gaurd stand and we would have a blast meeting people and just relaxing in the sun. In fact one of my favorite times is when we would just sit out at the pool dressed in khaki shorts and light colored polo shirts and we would meet tons of girls! But yet as we look on it after the hurricane everything was just a sand waste land. It truely is amazing how fragile life is. One moment we have things and one moment we don't. Their famalies life for the past 12 or so years had been making that holiday inn flouresh and now it is trashed by the beautiful elements of mother nature.
3).How bad is it that you are working for four days straight on Okaloosa island trying to help out others for 10-12 hours a day and your girl friends mother calls you on her cell phone to see if you are ok but yet her daughter is practically non-existant? For five days now my so called girl friend and I have not communicated once and I have no clue why....It bothers me but yet she went off to stay with a friend at a colege and have a good time so my guess is that she either found someone else or is not interested in me anymore. Regardless, it bothers me but at this current moment I must concentrate on priorities like school that starts in a day and filling out all my paper work for UCF next fall semester. But, I'm sure more will come on this topic later on....
4).Another thing that came shocking to me today is that an ex-girlfriend of mine (the one that cheated on me really bad for those that know me personally), her second story on her house evidently came under a lot of stress from the storm and has been destroyed and may have cause damage to the first floor. Even though she and I are not really on talking terms and she has pursued her own "side" road in life, I still find that I have a close bond with her father and he is a really good, hardworking man that I feel much regret for. Often the father and I would talk a lot at church or he would come into my store and we would talk. When I heard that news today it just hit me like a brick wall because I just feel so sorry for him. My prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family.
5). The final thing that this storm re-afirmed is how important and dominant your family and true friends are. Through this storm my family I believe has bonded closer as a family unit and I have gotten a lot closer with Emily. Its funny how I can really speak my emotions with Em and she really understands what I am going through but when I try to tell other guy friends they just kinda look at you then look back at the ground.....I talked with her almost everynight during the hurricane clean up effort and if I had one with it would be for her to live down here because then I think we would have the times of our lives just being able to be around each other.
There were other things but they have slipped my mind, deeming them insignificant. Another noteworthy thing is that Russ's son Mike, has a daughter that is around my age and is attending the UGA. Well she is having some issues so all of a sudden my mom tells me yesterday that she is coming down in a few days to live with us for awhile so she can kinda get a new start! I don't mind her comming down but in my proffesional opinion I believe that before she should come down my brother should move out because adding another dependant to the household results in more stress not only on individuals but also on the limited resources on the house. Don't get me wrong, I never wanted a sister because of the growing process of a girl would have been a wretched experience to deal with but, I am kinda looking foward to having a "sister" like entity around the house. Plus, she was a social heavy weight in both high school and colege so I think she'll make friends very quickly and with that means that she'll be bringing a lot of girls around the house, which who knows what is happening with my own girl friend. But anyways, it feels good to be able to express myself in my "e"-journal once again and I look foward to doing so in the daily manner I have in the past.
Best wishes, Joshua Price