Lucky

We got lucky and got power back at 8:00 pm last night after 30 hours without. I could not imagine going two weeks with no power. Lucky it wasn’t 30 days…...real lucky.

Generator: it was interesting to see how many things I could run off the generator at one time. Tops was 2 freezers, 1 refrig, and an air conditioner. It also ran the pump. Great machine but noisy. Lucky to have one. There has to be way to attach an old muffler from the Z cars to it – I did see such a setup at the generator repair shop a few weeks ago. Another winter project.

Maybe we are done for the year with this hurricane crap. Jeanne was stronger than Frances. We got some good wind late Sunday afternoon. It was fun to stand in it and become as “one with the storm”. Thank God there is no lightning in hurricanes or it would be totally unbearable. Lucky…..

Only lost 3 shingles – lucky. However, 2 of my beloved Hibiscus mutabilus (a.k.a. confederate rose) trees were mutilated – not lucky….. However, replacements are already in hand – lucky (planning actually). They are just getting ready to flower as the daylength shortens. This will be the first fall to enjoy them – lucky.

Went to work to check things yesterday afternoon. The research greenhouse and all of its contents are fine. Lucky. No power at the center so we have today off. Really lucky….

Hope to go surf fishing next week as it is the season. However, don’t know if my favorite beach still has any stairs left. Time will tell. Hope to be lucky…here too.

Finally. We are lucky to live in Florida and enjoy its beauty regardless of the past few storms. This is especially true for horticulturists like me amd mosiac mom. Yes sir we are lucky - really, really lucky.

Beside my 3 varieties of cucumbers survived the storm and look great - lucky. Yummy too... Let the fall gardening season begin. Ahh yes - how lucky can you be in Florida.....really lucky.

Pothos in the research house. 

What Can You Say – Get Lost Jeanne

Hurricane Jeanne – No. 4 to play with our minds. I have had it. Can’t even get too excited about this one. Maybe because all the prep work is done. The most scary tree has been removed near the house. The Z shop roof is already gone. The generator is gased and ready. The whiskey supply is fine. Let it rip…………

Besides, my theory now is this: do what you can and the rest is totally luck. If your luck runs out then it does. You can only hope and pray for the best. It’s not all of your preparations that pay off (although they are critical), but whether or not your luck stays put or runs out. Of course I also say the more that you plan and prepare the better you luck tends to be.

Anyway, I am going to reset the points on the greenbean this weekend Jeanne or no Jeanne.

Besides, it has been a great week at work!!!!! Spent 3 days cleaning the research house, had a small plant giveaway today and found out that I really have escaped from teaching this winter. Can’t beat that. Hooray…

Maybe next week we can finally move on. I hope Jeanne has a little mercy on everyone down here. Don’t want no more new Florida greeting cards

The greenbean - '73 240Z. 

To the Points

I love driving the greenbean on the 33 mile roundtrip to work each day. However the 'bean started burping occasionally on the way home last Friday. Just tiny little burps (misses) and the first burp in 3500 miles of troublefree driving. Instantly beads of sweat roll off my forehead as fear of sitting on the roadside rush to the forefront. Damn Z cars anyway. Grrrrrrr........

Figured it was a little water in gas and I treated for it. Nah, that wasn't it. Grrrrr....Scott (the Z guru) said the points needed adjustment. No problem even though I hadn't done it myself before but had watched intently once. So I did it. Car ran ok but still not satisfied. Grrrrr......

After second adjustment nothing happened. The car would not fire. Oh God. No panic. Just let it sit a day. Grrrrrrr........... Tonight I reset the points to a narrower gap and it fired up. The 'bean ran up and down the road ok but was unsteady when rpm exceed 5000. High rpm is what Z cars are supposed to like you know. So decided to read the manual and realized there may be more to this point gapping thing. I think there is. Grrrrrr.............

What I actually need is to eliminate the points and install an electronic ignition. More and better power at all rpm. Both of my Z shop buddies' cars have them. Then no more messing with distributor adjustment every 5000 miles. Nice................ No more Grrrrrrrrr...... There may be a UPS package arriving next week. The greenbean should be real happy at 6-7000 rpm. I know I will be - get the point. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....................................

Random Stuff

We are fortunate to have missed Ivan. During our summer trip mosaic mom and I stayed at a Holiday Inn on Navarre Beach near Pensacola. It was a beautiful beach which included a large fishing pier. The pier was at least 15 feet above the water and extended out into the Gulf several hundred yards. As of late yesterday afternoon waves were breaking over the top of the pier and Ivan was still a hundred miles off shore. Waves were reported to be up to 50 feet in the gulf. I am sure this area will look quite different next summer.

Of course we now have mean Jeanne to worry about. When you get older time sure flies – except when you are waiting of see what one of these monsters will do – then time seems to stand still. However, your aging process kicks into high gear.

Oh hell, enough of that. My cucumbers are up and going strong, I have someone lined up to fix the Z shop in a couple of weeks, it will soon be time to pollinate Mandevillas again and I took the plywood off of some windows this morning. I even get to mow the grass tonight. Now we are talking…get lost Jeanne........... (to be continued).

A double mandevilla flower. Wish it was my creation. 

Spring and Convoys

Still in the sping mood as life seems to be starting up again. Ivan seems to be more west still and that is good news for us. Definitely a feeling of spring after 3 weeks or hibernation. Getting two springs in one year is a pretty good deal.

The cucmuber seeds and tomato seeds are sown and should be up in 4 days - ahh Florida at its best. The pepper plants are reaching for the sky. Maybe I will plant some leaf lettuce this fall.

So it really is spring since the time for fall planting has arrived. Can you say that about anywhere else?

We visited Helen's apartment last night and her power is finally on. The Stetson campus looked immaculate. The grass was mowed and raked and all the debris was gone. Spring had appeared there also. You would not recognise campus compared to last week. Finally the poor students may get back on schedule. The rest of Deland still looked like a tree debris field.

It was quite amazing to see all the convoys of power trucks in Deland. We saw trucks from Ohio, mississippi and Texas. It gave you a really good feeling of how this country can work together. What a massive amount of logistical organization must have gone into making those work. Congratulations to all involved and thank you. So much good can come out of these storms and I was glad to see some.

Anyway I will include another mandevilla photo (above) in salute of Florida's sring/fall. If Ivan suddenly turns east (and that could happen) then all bets are off and back to hibernation. We will know for sure in 3 days (Wed). We are not completely safe until Ivan is NORTH of us.

Another Mandevilla flower looking for spring. 

Ivan's path may be shifting slightly west

The last two forcast maps have shown the path of Ivan to be shifting slightly west. We may have hope of being spared another direct major hit in central Florida. Of course these things can change radically at any time.

However, hope of spring is eternal, at least until the 5 pm path update is available. I sure hope all the poor students at Stetson can get back to a normal school routine and move forward with their plans. It is really hard on them, especially the out of state students, since there is little for them to do.

Old guys like me can continue to make preparations on top of perpartions. The more we make the less the chance of needing them. At least that is the theory that motivates me. Stay tuned.

Springtime in the greenhouse. 

From Weather Maps to Spring

Holy cow now I am reading hurricane maps and discussions and printing out their reports and path projections to intensely scan for any variation. A ¼ inch shift in track can affect my mood for hours. The reports come at 11 and 5 on the ams and pms.

At least I know that today is Saturday. Funny how when your routine is disrupted you lose track of what day it is. Is a calendar important anyway??? Not sure that it is…

Enough of this despair crap. So yesterday I planted 3 different cucumber varieties. Let’s get going with new life.

Got new plastic for the Z-shop roof ordered and some new steel gutters for the framework. Now we are moving ahead. Some of the old ones rusted out so it is a good time to fix it right.

There are always flowers to look at in my greenhouse. Spring is a state of mind. Yes, it is spring now – a new start to everything. We will be like gophers coming out of our holes. Soon it will be great to be in Florida again.

Frances Residue

The Z-shop is injured - but that was planned. The seven-year-old plastic roof (supposed to last only 4 years) was sliced in several places just before the storm so that it would tear away before the framework would be damaged. Sure makes a great disaster photo though.

The Big-O (see below) is fine and was not damaged. All the important tools and parts were moved into a covered shed. So after a little cleanup and a new roof (1-day job) the shop will be up and going again. However, we will wait a month of so before adding a new roof in case we get another unwelcome visitor. So a few parts rust – that is what Z-cars do. Besides we need to discard a few extra parts.

Our trees really did a great job at cutting the wind. It was quite amazing to stand in the car port and watch the oaks and pines whip around severely and not feel much of a breeze. The thing is not to plant them too close to the house or under power lines.

The greenhouse at work survived and that is great since it is made of glass. It was destroyed by hail once several years ago and we still find glass particles under the benches. Work is shut down due to power outage, but I am going in to move my hybrids out of the lab and back to the greenhouse. They need the light and with the doors open it is not too hot.

So for us anyway, life is getting back to normal and we were lucky. I sure pity those poor people without power or even worse without intact homes. Life can be really hard.

Backyard after the big blow. 

The 'Big O' resting in tatered Z-shop after Frances 

Our peaceful backyard with two large oak trees - soon to be one oak tree. 

I have had it with FRANCES

FRANCES -- After a week of gloom and doom predictions on TV, it looks like we will be saddled with 60 mph winds or 6-8 hours and a lot of rain. Only potential problems are flooding or trees falling. I slit the plastic roofs on the Z shop and greenhouses of insure that the structures would stay intact. Boy that was tough. But they needed new roofs anyway once the hurricane season is over.

I worry most about flooding as we do sit in the lower part of a small sloping bowl. It could accumulate up to 2 feet of water before draining off the back of our property. This problem will be fixed before next year. In 28 years the most water to accumulate is a small pond 3 inches deep that was the size of our house. Fortunately it is quite dry here and our sandy soil drains very fast. However, I need some disaster scenario to focus on, or maybe I should be a TV reporter.

There are also 2 big oak trees that could affect the house and the power lines – they are toast in a couple of weeks. I planted both of them and never thought the day would come that they would over grow their usefulness. Maybe I need to move more often. I will not plants such large growing trees near my house or power lines again. Miniature magnolias sound like a nice option.

It looks like we may be lucky again but guess what. Ivan the terrible is coming along behind Frances. It could be the 3rd one to hit Florida this year --- that will not be the charm. I hope it goes somewhere else.

Besides, it is getting close to fishing season and I do not have time for anymore of these distractions. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr………..

The Ant and the Grasshopper

When I was a kid one of my favorite stories was about the ant and the grasshopper. In summary: the ant worked hard and the grasshopper played all summer. When winter came the grasshopper begged the ant to feed him but she did not and saved the food for her family.
The grasshopper did not have a good ending.

I am not sure how this hurricane thing will end up either but I am an ant in that regard. The building is covered in with plywood, we have 2 generators and plenty of fuel. If our refuge holds we should be ok. I can't stop doing something once the nervous energy takes over. However, it is harder now as age takes it toll. If this experience is too nasty, next time I will prepare as best I can early and leave the state and forget about it.

The Z shop is probably doomed and the Big-O will probably be damaged because it can't be moved. No where to go anyway. That is life - maybe we will be lucky. No way --- the Z shop is just too fragile.

I moved several one of a kind hybrids into our main building at work. They should survive.
The crape myrtles are at home and I will hold them with me at all times along with mandevilla and some other unique plants. We will go out together if at all.

I hate this stuff. Anyway I feel better that preparations are almost finished. The rest is in God's hands. I hope everyone manages to escape unharmed.

Maybe it is time to move back to Oregon --- at least for the summers anyway. Now that sounds like a plan. Good luck to all.

More from the ant later.