Hurricane Initiation. Windy Days. And The Clean Up.

Wow, what a weekend! I will start by saying hurricanes do not mess around. Hurricane Matthew was mild for us but I can't help think how much worse it could have been for our piece of coastline. By the time the hurricane made it our way, it was down to a Category 1. The wind was blowing around 60mph steadily and the 50 ft tall trees (a stone's throw from my house) were swaying like weeds. Then... the power went out and the sound of the house being knocked around was the only thing to lull us to sleep. It wasn't the best night :)

I waited all week to make the decision to stay or evacuate. After reports Matthew was losing strength, I decided we would stay. I made a grocery run for the essentials. Wine. Junk Food. Water. Wine. Chances are you will lose power so you need food that doesn't need cooked.

I now understand the difference between a thunderstorm and a hurricane. The newscast don't do it justice. Hurricanes bring incredibly warm weather. The rain swirls around in all directions. The wind is crazy strong. I vote for thunderstorm every time! Which says a lot because this was the weakest category to experience. I wouldn't want to see a 4 or 5.

Morning came and the sky was calm. The temperature had dropped 15-20 degrees. Our lawn was littered with branches and pinecones. And Hurricane Matthew seemed to be gone. Hip hip hooray! There was the small detail of no electricity :( But 20 hours later, we were back on the grid.

After driving from the north side of town to the south without any luck, we headed to the island looking for warm hearty food and coffee! With a little begging from the boys, we took a quick peak at the beach. I was shocked how calm everything was. The ocean honestly looked like nothing had ever happened. The calmest I had ever seen it. Not sure if that is a weird ocean aftermath thing or freak occurrence today.

Our electricity was out all day. Small potatoes compared to so many others still waiting to get home or restore electricity. However, we are on well water so electricity pumps water to our house. No electricity means no toilets flushed (properly). I'm not a big fan of that one. We went to find dinner food and wifi and more coffee!

Wilmington was prepared for the worse with it's hurricane shutters, plywood, and sand bags. 

We are so so lucky the storm didn't require those things here. 

Today, which is Tuesday, is our second day without school! The kids are ecstatic. Me not so much. Monday was cleanup day which the kids weren't so happy about. Those branches weren't going to pick up themselves! Things looked so much better when all was complete.