My husband and I are finally home in Celebration, and as we drove through town on the way to our house, he snapped some photos of the various homes that were boarded up to ward off Frances. I don't know if they are still up because people haven't gotten a chance to take them down or because they are waiting to see what Ivan will do, just in case this all this craziness happens for a third time.
Seeing all the boarded up homes gave me a really eerie feeling. Back in the midwest, I lived in an apartment that was not too far from a very blighted area. I drove through it often, since it was a shortcut to get to the places where I usually shopped. For every house that had a family living in it, there were at least three or four more boarded up on every block. I think that community was actually ranked as one of the poorest in the United States. In my immediate neighborhood, where my apartment was located, the only time I saw a boarded up house was if there had been a fire or perhaps if the home had been repossessed.
It gave me a real Twilight-Zone feeling to drive through Celebration and see all the beautiful homes with boards nailed over the windows. Celebration is a newer community, with a wide variety of architecture...that's one of the things I love about it. It looked so strange to see all these quaint, perfectly painted and landscaped homes with windows covered in plywood. Some of them were painted with pictures or slogans, adding some humor to the surreal scene. Perhaps even more interesting were the homes where people had decided to tape instead of board. Every tape job that we saw was perfectly symmetrical, almost as though it had been done for decorative purposes instead of to ward of hurricane damage.
Click here if you'd like to see some photos. We plan to go biking tomorrow and take some more, but we couldn't help taking a few as we drove home. Meanwhile, if you'd like to see some damage photos, click here for Tom's website, where he has posted some great pictures courtesy of Jan.
We were very fortunate to get to Florida early this morning (Monday). Our flight on Friday had been cancelled, so my husband booked the second flight out on Labor Day morning, hoping that Frances would be gone by then and that the airport would make it through relatively unscathed. It turns out that his prediction was a good one. We are always in a rush to get home as soon as possible; it's tough being a 1500 mile commuter. And this time we had a second big reason: We are scheduled to go on our 39th Disney cruise on Thursday. We are total Disney Cruise Line fanatics; if you don't believe me, click here to visit my Disney Cruise Line website, complete with everything you've ever wanted to know about the Magic and Wonder, including menus, activity schedules, and even a list of spa treatments/prices. We are sailing with another couple from Celebration, so it promises to be a fun time.
We got to the airport early, and the first flight to Orlando had not left yet. Its departure was delayed, since Orlando International wasn't scheduled to reopen until noon. We hustled to the gate to see if they could fit on two more people. Turns out that was no problem, as the plane was nearly empty. As we settled into our seats, my husband and I breathed a collective sigh of relief. Soon we'd be home, and over an hour earlier than planned.
Usually I don't like being on an empty plane because my paranoid mind reasons that I want to be with lots of people so there will be enough of us to overpower any terrorist who might manage to sneak on board. But this time I was glad that crowd was minimal. Sure, it was nice to be able to have a whole row to ourselves to stretch out and nap, but better yet, there was plenty of overhead space. I was in constant fear that my husband would have to check his carry-on, which was overloaded with almost a dozen tarps! Since they sold out in the Kissimme/Orlando area in the frenzy of panic surrounding Frances's approach, we had stocked up on them to bring them home for anyone who might need an emergency roof covering. But fitting that many 16 x 20 tarps into a standard-sized carry-on bag is like stuffing 50 clowns in a Volkswagon. I think hubby had to jump up and down on the bag a few times to get everything stuff down so he could zipper it. Then he added a luggage band for good measure, just in case the zipper gave way, since the bag was straining at the seams like a pair of Oprah's sweatpants when she's in her "fat" stage.
I really, really wanted that bag in an overhead compartment (there was no way it was going to fit under a seat) just in case it decided to explode. I didn't think it could survive the rough and tumble treatment of the baggage handlers. Fortunately, my husband was able to easily fit it overhead.
As we headed down the runway, I mentally fretted that the flight might be choppy, since we would be flying through some of Frances's lingering storm clouds. I am not a good flyer, even at the best of times, so I wasn't looking forward to having to sit through a roller coaster ride while warding off a panic attack. Amazingly, other than a short period of "air pot holes," the flight was relatively smooth. It wobbled a bit as we came in for a landing, but not nearly enough to scare even a paranoid soul like me.
As we deplaned and headed through the airport, I noticed that the carpeting was wet again. The industrial blowers were going full blast, trying to get things dried out. I'm so glad that Frances didn't cause the same level of roof damage that Charley did, or else I doubt that the airport would have opened at all this week.
Celebration weathered the storm with minimal damage. Our house, which suffered some soffit damage in Charley, doesn't have any noticable Frances-related problems (unless a surprise leak springs up due to missing roof shingles that we haven't noticed). I think the tree out in front of our house is finally a casualty after already being uprighted twice. But overall, we were spared the worst of it.
When I see the television coverage of Brevard County, I shudder for those poor people and say a quick prayer. They took the brunt this time; their level of damage reminds me of driving through Old Kissimmee after Charley. It's like the damage caused by a tornado, except that it goes on for miles. A tornado is picking, destroying one house while leaving its neighbor intact. In contrast, Frances cut a swatch of continual destruction like a runaway freight train.
As I type this, yet another hurricane looms on the horizon. But no one knows what Hurricane Ivan will do or where it will decide to head. The predictions so far this year haven't been very accurate, especially with Frances, so Ivan's next move is anyone's guess. I just hope it stays harmlessly at sea and goes far, far away from any human habitation. Florida has had enough storms this year to last at least a half century.
If you have any questions or comments about this blog, please email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
My Celebration information site can be found at www.celebrationinfo.com
Monday, September 06, 2004
Sunday, September 05, 2004
Hurricane Frances Video Addendum
Frances isn't done with Celebration yet, as the latest videos from my neighbor clearly demonstrate. Notice how the trees are bending like rubber bands!
New video link one
New video link two
New video link three
New video link four
New video link one
New video link two
New video link three
New video link four
Thar She Blows!
It's Sunday morning, and both my husband and I have been glued to the cable news channels to check on the condition of Florida in general and Celebration in particular. Better yet, we've been watching two live television feeds from Orlando news stations, courtesy of the internet and our DSL connection. What did we do in the days before computers? Did I really once live in the stone age of typewriters and corded telephones, when color television was still a novelty? Damn, I'm old!
My neighbor has also posted video footage of the storm at various points, starting with its prelude early yesterday evening. Click the links below to view them via Windows media player:
Saturday Evening clips
Hurricane Frances Video One
Video Two
Video Three
Video Four
This last clip was taken Sunday Morning
Video Five
She and another neighbor were also kind enough to take in all my outside stuff. I am big on wind chimes and flags, and of course there is my beloved porch swing. When I had it installed last fall, I never realized that it would become a liability.
But even with my decorations safely stashed, visions of the 14 windows in my house have been dancing in my head. I didn't think much about them when Charley was on its way, but this time around I heard so many reports of Celebration residents boarding up their windows that it made me paranoid.
I have always been the kind of person who loves sunshine, and lots of it...ironic, since I am an albino-skinned mutant who burns to a crisp lobster red whenever I spend more than five minutes under the sun. I am not happy unless my house has windows crammed into every available inch of wall space.
Before I got married, I lived in a studio apartment attached to a garage. That meant I had three outside walls, and every one of them featured big, gorgeous windows to let in the sunlight. After my marriage, I moved to my husband's townhome, which would have been more suitable for the Mole People than actual human beings. Built in the 1970s, it featured groovy avocado side on its exterior and a dim, depressing interior where windows were a rare commodity. The first floor front had absolutely none, save for a tall, narrow slit of glass next to the front door. The back had one window and a patio door, but for some reason my husband kept them heavily curtained and covered. I guess he had evolved like one of those blind, eyeless fish that live in underground caverns. Spend enough time in the dark and Darwin takes away your ability to deal with light.
Upstairs, the windows were a bit more plentiful, but since the townhouse was a middle unit. they were only in the back and front. The net effect was like living in some sort of two-story cave.
Soon enough, I convinced him to move to a condo that featured a vaulted living room ceiling with two sets of patio doors in the living room, each topped by huge triangular windows. Even though the condo only has two exterior walls, it was designd to make the most of the space, with plentiful windows wherever possible.
When we looked at the model of our home-to-be in Florida, I was struck by the abundance of glass. There are windows everywhere. The only downside is a lack of space for hanging pictures, but that's something I can live with. The "cave" had plenty of wall space, but hanging pictures did nothing to brighten its demeanor.
We bought the end unit in our triplex specifically because of its three exterior walls. We looked at the middle unit, which is larger, but in the end the abundance of windows in the smaller unit won me over. You can tell when I arrive in town, as I open the blinds in every window, even if it's past midnight. I want to know that in the morning, I'll be awakened by the caress of sunbeams on my cheek.
We are slowly but surely buying stained glass panels to hang in most of them; so far, we have two multi-colored panels decorated with cats in the kitchen and a huge nautical panel for my Disney Cruise Line-themed master bedroom.
But in hurricane season, the windows that I love become a liability. I never, ever thought that people would be boarding up their homes this far inland. Oh well, this time around we were lucky. Charley was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime store, so with Frances, I figure that I'm done with major hurricanes for this time and my next incarnation (which will also hopefully be in Celebration).
My husband and I are still awaiting word on the airport, since we are scheduled to fly home Monday morning. The roof has been in such bad shape since Charley that I can't even imagine how much additional water damage they sustained. But they closed very early to make preparations, so hopefully they were able to minimize it. We're still optimistically hoping to go on our Disney cruise on Thursday, despite the fact that Disney's island, Castaway Cay, is probably a wasteland right now. I have the feeling that our entire itinerary will be sea days, since Nassau might not be in any shape to take on tourists either.
If you have any questions or comments, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
You can find a link to the Celebration webcam, as well as lots of information on the town, on my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com
My neighbor has also posted video footage of the storm at various points, starting with its prelude early yesterday evening. Click the links below to view them via Windows media player:
Saturday Evening clips
Hurricane Frances Video One
Video Two
Video Three
Video Four
This last clip was taken Sunday Morning
Video Five
She and another neighbor were also kind enough to take in all my outside stuff. I am big on wind chimes and flags, and of course there is my beloved porch swing. When I had it installed last fall, I never realized that it would become a liability.
But even with my decorations safely stashed, visions of the 14 windows in my house have been dancing in my head. I didn't think much about them when Charley was on its way, but this time around I heard so many reports of Celebration residents boarding up their windows that it made me paranoid.
I have always been the kind of person who loves sunshine, and lots of it...ironic, since I am an albino-skinned mutant who burns to a crisp lobster red whenever I spend more than five minutes under the sun. I am not happy unless my house has windows crammed into every available inch of wall space.
Before I got married, I lived in a studio apartment attached to a garage. That meant I had three outside walls, and every one of them featured big, gorgeous windows to let in the sunlight. After my marriage, I moved to my husband's townhome, which would have been more suitable for the Mole People than actual human beings. Built in the 1970s, it featured groovy avocado side on its exterior and a dim, depressing interior where windows were a rare commodity. The first floor front had absolutely none, save for a tall, narrow slit of glass next to the front door. The back had one window and a patio door, but for some reason my husband kept them heavily curtained and covered. I guess he had evolved like one of those blind, eyeless fish that live in underground caverns. Spend enough time in the dark and Darwin takes away your ability to deal with light.
Upstairs, the windows were a bit more plentiful, but since the townhouse was a middle unit. they were only in the back and front. The net effect was like living in some sort of two-story cave.
Soon enough, I convinced him to move to a condo that featured a vaulted living room ceiling with two sets of patio doors in the living room, each topped by huge triangular windows. Even though the condo only has two exterior walls, it was designd to make the most of the space, with plentiful windows wherever possible.
When we looked at the model of our home-to-be in Florida, I was struck by the abundance of glass. There are windows everywhere. The only downside is a lack of space for hanging pictures, but that's something I can live with. The "cave" had plenty of wall space, but hanging pictures did nothing to brighten its demeanor.
We bought the end unit in our triplex specifically because of its three exterior walls. We looked at the middle unit, which is larger, but in the end the abundance of windows in the smaller unit won me over. You can tell when I arrive in town, as I open the blinds in every window, even if it's past midnight. I want to know that in the morning, I'll be awakened by the caress of sunbeams on my cheek.
We are slowly but surely buying stained glass panels to hang in most of them; so far, we have two multi-colored panels decorated with cats in the kitchen and a huge nautical panel for my Disney Cruise Line-themed master bedroom.
But in hurricane season, the windows that I love become a liability. I never, ever thought that people would be boarding up their homes this far inland. Oh well, this time around we were lucky. Charley was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime store, so with Frances, I figure that I'm done with major hurricanes for this time and my next incarnation (which will also hopefully be in Celebration).
My husband and I are still awaiting word on the airport, since we are scheduled to fly home Monday morning. The roof has been in such bad shape since Charley that I can't even imagine how much additional water damage they sustained. But they closed very early to make preparations, so hopefully they were able to minimize it. We're still optimistically hoping to go on our Disney cruise on Thursday, despite the fact that Disney's island, Castaway Cay, is probably a wasteland right now. I have the feeling that our entire itinerary will be sea days, since Nassau might not be in any shape to take on tourists either.
If you have any questions or comments, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
You can find a link to the Celebration webcam, as well as lots of information on the town, on my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com
Friday, September 03, 2004
Waiting is the Hardest Part
As Hurricane Frances inches its way towards Florida, the anticipation is reaching a frenzied peak. First there was a chance that it could strike on Friday, September 3. In preparation, Orlando International Airport announced that its operations would cease at noon on Friday. I'm not surprised, as I saw firsthand how much damage it sustained from Charley. The roofs are not even close to being fully repaired, so I can't imagine how much water damage they'll sustain if Frances is as slow-moving and vicious as predicted.
The airport closure meant that our flight, which was scheduled to arrive on Friday evening, was diverted to another part of Florida. I think they mainly wanted to get the plane out there so they could accommodate the people who are trying to escape the state. We switched our tickets to Monday morning, hoping that things would be calm enough to head home by then.
But then the strike date was changed to early Saturday, meaning we would have to sit tight a little longer. There would be more agonizing hours before we would know the fate of Celebration and the Kissimmee area. Worse yet, we have many friends in the Port Canaveral area, too, and Frances was right on course to strike Cocoa Beach. Not only are we praying for our friends in Celebration and Orlando/Kissimmee, but also for those near the ocean (thankfully, it now looks like Cocoa might be spared from the full brunt of the storm).
Now, as I type this late Friday evening, Frances stalled for a while in the Bahamas and has started limping on towards Florida. The anticipated full-on strike time is now later on Saturday than originally predicted. She is losing strength (currently down to a Category 2) but could get her second wind (pun fully intended) at any time.
The most frightening part of the storm's destructive potential is that even if the winds weaken, it is so slow moving that the heavy rains will almost surely cause massive flooding. The ground is already saturated from the normal late summer rains, coupled with Charley's recent visit. Frances has cloud coverage the size of Texas; combine that with her snail-like pace and the torrential rains could last as long as 12 hours.
Mixed into my worry about being so far from home as it is threatened by a hurricane once again is the sensationalist news coverage. The reporters love to focus on the worst case scenario and hash & rehash all the gory details. If I went entirely by what they are predicting, I would probably be in a straightjacket by now, tormented into madness by a vision of my house swirling Oz-like in the midst of Frances, with only a bare slab, submerged under ten feet of water, marking where it once stood.
Thankfully, between the Front Porch intranet and www.34747.org, I am able to get a dose of reality from my fellow Celebration residents. Among them you will find a variety of optimists and pessimists debating both sides of the probable strike force. The truth usually lies somewhere right around the middle.
I'll admit that it did scare me to read that some people in Celebration are boarding up their windows this time around. I associate that kind of extreme preparation with living near the coast. Of course, at this point it wouldn't matter, even if I weren't stranded 1500 miles away. Virtually every home improvement store in the state is out of plywood and other hurricane preparedness materials. The grocery store shelves are bare of batteries and bottled water, and many gasoline stations have been drained down to the last drop.
The good old sensationalist newscasters focused in with glee when things got ugly at some of the stores. The aftermath of a disaster brings out the best in people, as shown by all the volunteers who rolled up their sleeves and opened their wallets after Charley. But unfortunately, when the disaster is striking, it's often every man for himself. And the reporters were right there when fist fights broke out among people vying for the last boards, hogging other survival supplies, or jumping the check-out lines.
It reminds me of the comedian I once saw who joked about the typical airline safety speech. He said, "On my last plane ride, the flight attendant said that in case of emergency, we should follow the floor lighting to the emergency exits and leave the plane quickly and calmly, with no shoving. We don't even do that when exiting after a perfect landing and she expects us to do that when the plane is ready to blow up?"
As I am typing this, the Frances forecast is probably changing yet again, so I'll keep this entry short. In addition to news about Central Florida, I am also anxious to find out more about the storm's impact on the Bahamas. I am scheduled to take my 39th Disney Cruise on September 9th, and their private island, Castaway Cay, was stuck beneath the sluggish storm for hours today. It will be a while before there is an official damage report, but I suspect that our cruise won't be stopping there, nor will any for a while.
If you want to see how Celebration is faring in the storm or its aftermath, click here to view a live webcam. For general information on Celebration, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can contact me via email at celebration@mailblocks.com
The airport closure meant that our flight, which was scheduled to arrive on Friday evening, was diverted to another part of Florida. I think they mainly wanted to get the plane out there so they could accommodate the people who are trying to escape the state. We switched our tickets to Monday morning, hoping that things would be calm enough to head home by then.
But then the strike date was changed to early Saturday, meaning we would have to sit tight a little longer. There would be more agonizing hours before we would know the fate of Celebration and the Kissimmee area. Worse yet, we have many friends in the Port Canaveral area, too, and Frances was right on course to strike Cocoa Beach. Not only are we praying for our friends in Celebration and Orlando/Kissimmee, but also for those near the ocean (thankfully, it now looks like Cocoa might be spared from the full brunt of the storm).
Now, as I type this late Friday evening, Frances stalled for a while in the Bahamas and has started limping on towards Florida. The anticipated full-on strike time is now later on Saturday than originally predicted. She is losing strength (currently down to a Category 2) but could get her second wind (pun fully intended) at any time.
The most frightening part of the storm's destructive potential is that even if the winds weaken, it is so slow moving that the heavy rains will almost surely cause massive flooding. The ground is already saturated from the normal late summer rains, coupled with Charley's recent visit. Frances has cloud coverage the size of Texas; combine that with her snail-like pace and the torrential rains could last as long as 12 hours.
Mixed into my worry about being so far from home as it is threatened by a hurricane once again is the sensationalist news coverage. The reporters love to focus on the worst case scenario and hash & rehash all the gory details. If I went entirely by what they are predicting, I would probably be in a straightjacket by now, tormented into madness by a vision of my house swirling Oz-like in the midst of Frances, with only a bare slab, submerged under ten feet of water, marking where it once stood.
Thankfully, between the Front Porch intranet and www.34747.org, I am able to get a dose of reality from my fellow Celebration residents. Among them you will find a variety of optimists and pessimists debating both sides of the probable strike force. The truth usually lies somewhere right around the middle.
I'll admit that it did scare me to read that some people in Celebration are boarding up their windows this time around. I associate that kind of extreme preparation with living near the coast. Of course, at this point it wouldn't matter, even if I weren't stranded 1500 miles away. Virtually every home improvement store in the state is out of plywood and other hurricane preparedness materials. The grocery store shelves are bare of batteries and bottled water, and many gasoline stations have been drained down to the last drop.
The good old sensationalist newscasters focused in with glee when things got ugly at some of the stores. The aftermath of a disaster brings out the best in people, as shown by all the volunteers who rolled up their sleeves and opened their wallets after Charley. But unfortunately, when the disaster is striking, it's often every man for himself. And the reporters were right there when fist fights broke out among people vying for the last boards, hogging other survival supplies, or jumping the check-out lines.
It reminds me of the comedian I once saw who joked about the typical airline safety speech. He said, "On my last plane ride, the flight attendant said that in case of emergency, we should follow the floor lighting to the emergency exits and leave the plane quickly and calmly, with no shoving. We don't even do that when exiting after a perfect landing and she expects us to do that when the plane is ready to blow up?"
As I am typing this, the Frances forecast is probably changing yet again, so I'll keep this entry short. In addition to news about Central Florida, I am also anxious to find out more about the storm's impact on the Bahamas. I am scheduled to take my 39th Disney Cruise on September 9th, and their private island, Castaway Cay, was stuck beneath the sluggish storm for hours today. It will be a while before there is an official damage report, but I suspect that our cruise won't be stopping there, nor will any for a while.
If you want to see how Celebration is faring in the storm or its aftermath, click here to view a live webcam. For general information on Celebration, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can contact me via email at celebration@mailblocks.com
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Natural Born Floridians
As Hurricane Frances makes its way towards Florida, I am breathing a sign of relief that Orlando International Airport will be closing tomorrow (Friday, September 3) at noon. That means that there is no possible way that my insane husband can try to drag me to Celebration.
Don't get me wrong. I love Celebration and consider it my hometown. I'm a 1500 mile commuter who has to take a plane instead of a train or automobile. As the hurricane works its way through the Bahamas and onward to Florida, I will be in a frenzy of worry about our friends and our home. This time, I'll also be saying a special prayer for those poor souls who were battered so viciously by Charley just two short weeks ago. So many of them are still living under tarps, and their electricity and water were only recently destroyed. Now they face the loss of what little they managed to hang on to, and I can even imagine how much worse buildings with already-damaged roofs will fare.
But as much as I want to be in Celebration, riding out the storm in my own home, I'm logical enough to know that I'm very fortunate to have 1500 miles between me and the fury of Charley's big sister. On the other hand, my husband would be perfectly happy to be hunkered down in our powder room with flashlights and a stash of bottled water, as long as he could be in his adopted home state.
His love of Florida borders on the irrational. Even thought I've only got one more class to go to be a doctor of psychology, I just couldn't figure it out. Finally, I came up with the following theory: Even though God is widely believed to be infallible, He occasionally makes a little mix-up. That whole "perfect" thing was probably dreamed up by his team of P.R. Angels. In reality, when creating and sort billions and billions of humans, not to mention all the other assorted life forms on Earth, He's bound to maybe send one to the wrong place.
In my husband's case, it's obvious that he was meant to go south instead of north. He is one of a set of fraternal twins, and he and his brother couldn't be more dissimilar. Actually, he bears no resemblance (at least temperment-wise) to anyone in his immediate family. Even his own parents often joked that he must be adopted.
The whole clan lives on a mixture of cigarettes, Xanax, and Prozac. They all claim to suffer from agoraphobia, which is often characterized by a reluctance to leave home. Interestingly enough, although it impairs their ability to work, it has no impact whatsoever on their ability to do anything else in the outside world.
My husband is the polar opposite; he eschews cigarettes and psychotropic drugs, and he has worked steadily since his teenage years. His insanity is limited to an obsession with Disney cruises (which I share) and a phenomenon that I have dubbed "Homing Pigeon Syndrome," which involves his going through great lengths, even to the point of risking bodily harm, to return to Celebration no matter what.
His native Floridian traits are quite obvious. Like me, he loves water and the ocean, and he would be perfectly content to never see a real snowflake in his life. But he takes the whole concept of Florida-loving much farther. When both the temperature and the percentage of humidity are at 110, I find myself gasping for breath. As my lungs drawn in the oven-baked air, I can feel them sizzle like steaks on a grill. I can easily picture my body melting into a bubbling puddle of protoplasm like the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz."
On the other hand, my husband will beam, "What an absolutely GORGEOUS day. Let's go for a two hour bike ride!" He thrives on the oppressive heat and seems to draw an unholy strength from it.
The blood that courses through my veins must have the taste of the sweetest nectar, as any insect within a two-mile range will seek me out to feast on it. My husband is impervious to their bites. We can spend an evening together on the porch, and my body can be covered from head to toe with welts while his skin is as smooth as a baby's behind.
I burn like a lobster unless I slather every inch of exposed skin with SPF 125 when I even think about spending time in the sun. My husband just takes on a nice, healthy glow unless he stays out for hours on end.
The weird thing is, before we got married, he had never once visited Florida and had no desire to ever do so. At the time, he was an active roller coaster enthusiast, so he probably would have made it to the Orlando-area theme parks eventually. But it was at the bottom of his list because he preferred to concentrate on the biggest, baddest thrill rides rather than family-oriented attractions. Space Mountain is a baby carriage when compared to anything at Cedar Point. Of course, Orlando has wonderful coasters like Hulk at Islands of Adventure now, but this was back in 1991/92.
Then I came along, and Fate (or God trying to rectify His error) was determined to get us together. Our first meeting was totally unremarkable, and after a while, I actually came to dislike him! If someone had bet me that he was my future husband, I would have laid everything I owned on the line. But we had many mutual friends, so for the new few years we hovered at the edges of each other's social circle. Finally we got together and the rest, as they say, is history.
Of course, being a Disney fanatic, I was soon dragging him to Orlando once or twice a year. Having grown up in a household where I read Disney-related Little Golden Books, saw every movie from from Walt's studio, and plopped in front of the Radiation King each weekend to watch the Wonderful World of Color, I was amazed that he hadn't been exposed to any of that. It became my mission in life to convert him to the Cult of the Mouse.
My mission worked a little too well. Soon I realized that once or twice a year had morphed into once every couple of months, and he was now the one doing the dragging. We visited Disney World so often that we bought annual passes. Then, Disney Cruise Line set sail in 1998 and the obsession surpassed any realistic boundaries. At present, we are scheduled to sail on Disney Cruise #39 on Thursday September 9, but who knows if Frances will change those plans...time will tell.
At any rate, soon we felt more at home in Florida than we did back north. We decided to implement a 10 year plan to move to the Sunshine State, figuring that a decade would give us plenty of time to map out a sensible strategy. I am the kind of person who tends to plan everything down to the last detail.
Then, in October of 2002 (only a couple of years into the decade), on a last-minute trip to Florida to attend a business conference, my husband and I drove over to Celebration on a lark. We were visiting Disney Cruise Line headquarters, which is located on the outskirts of the town, so we figured, "What the heck." We had some time before our flight, so bumming around Celebration seemed like a good way to spend the time.
Within mere weeks of our visit, we had a contract on a house in Celebration and were anxiously awaiting the ground breaking. We had taken the plunge years early, with absolutely no preparation or financial planning. We hadn't looked at any other neighborhoods, and we still had jobs to tie us down in the Midwest, with no alternative prospects in the Orlando area. Buying that house was probably the most spontaneous thing I have ever done in my life.
But my husband and I have never once regretted it (the only regret comes when we have to return to work; it gets harder to board that airplane every week). Still, it's a little disconcerting that we've faced two major hurricanes after literally only one year of being Florida homeowners (and inland, which I always presumed was mostly safe).
Oh well, even with the hurricanes, I wouldn't change a thing if I could go back in time. I may not be a "misplaced native" like my husband, but I have embraced my new home wholeheartedly, and that means I take the bad with the good.
Now comes the tense weekend of watching the radar, keeping in touch with friends, checking the internet for updates, and praying. Hopefully it will change course so my next blog entry won't be "Virtual Storm: The Sequel."
If you have comments on my blog or questions about Celebration, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Check out my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can also view my Disney-related travel agency site at www.dclexpert.com and my seminar/life coaching site at www.bnlifeskills.com.
Don't get me wrong. I love Celebration and consider it my hometown. I'm a 1500 mile commuter who has to take a plane instead of a train or automobile. As the hurricane works its way through the Bahamas and onward to Florida, I will be in a frenzy of worry about our friends and our home. This time, I'll also be saying a special prayer for those poor souls who were battered so viciously by Charley just two short weeks ago. So many of them are still living under tarps, and their electricity and water were only recently destroyed. Now they face the loss of what little they managed to hang on to, and I can even imagine how much worse buildings with already-damaged roofs will fare.
But as much as I want to be in Celebration, riding out the storm in my own home, I'm logical enough to know that I'm very fortunate to have 1500 miles between me and the fury of Charley's big sister. On the other hand, my husband would be perfectly happy to be hunkered down in our powder room with flashlights and a stash of bottled water, as long as he could be in his adopted home state.
His love of Florida borders on the irrational. Even thought I've only got one more class to go to be a doctor of psychology, I just couldn't figure it out. Finally, I came up with the following theory: Even though God is widely believed to be infallible, He occasionally makes a little mix-up. That whole "perfect" thing was probably dreamed up by his team of P.R. Angels. In reality, when creating and sort billions and billions of humans, not to mention all the other assorted life forms on Earth, He's bound to maybe send one to the wrong place.
In my husband's case, it's obvious that he was meant to go south instead of north. He is one of a set of fraternal twins, and he and his brother couldn't be more dissimilar. Actually, he bears no resemblance (at least temperment-wise) to anyone in his immediate family. Even his own parents often joked that he must be adopted.
The whole clan lives on a mixture of cigarettes, Xanax, and Prozac. They all claim to suffer from agoraphobia, which is often characterized by a reluctance to leave home. Interestingly enough, although it impairs their ability to work, it has no impact whatsoever on their ability to do anything else in the outside world.
My husband is the polar opposite; he eschews cigarettes and psychotropic drugs, and he has worked steadily since his teenage years. His insanity is limited to an obsession with Disney cruises (which I share) and a phenomenon that I have dubbed "Homing Pigeon Syndrome," which involves his going through great lengths, even to the point of risking bodily harm, to return to Celebration no matter what.
His native Floridian traits are quite obvious. Like me, he loves water and the ocean, and he would be perfectly content to never see a real snowflake in his life. But he takes the whole concept of Florida-loving much farther. When both the temperature and the percentage of humidity are at 110, I find myself gasping for breath. As my lungs drawn in the oven-baked air, I can feel them sizzle like steaks on a grill. I can easily picture my body melting into a bubbling puddle of protoplasm like the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz."
On the other hand, my husband will beam, "What an absolutely GORGEOUS day. Let's go for a two hour bike ride!" He thrives on the oppressive heat and seems to draw an unholy strength from it.
The blood that courses through my veins must have the taste of the sweetest nectar, as any insect within a two-mile range will seek me out to feast on it. My husband is impervious to their bites. We can spend an evening together on the porch, and my body can be covered from head to toe with welts while his skin is as smooth as a baby's behind.
I burn like a lobster unless I slather every inch of exposed skin with SPF 125 when I even think about spending time in the sun. My husband just takes on a nice, healthy glow unless he stays out for hours on end.
The weird thing is, before we got married, he had never once visited Florida and had no desire to ever do so. At the time, he was an active roller coaster enthusiast, so he probably would have made it to the Orlando-area theme parks eventually. But it was at the bottom of his list because he preferred to concentrate on the biggest, baddest thrill rides rather than family-oriented attractions. Space Mountain is a baby carriage when compared to anything at Cedar Point. Of course, Orlando has wonderful coasters like Hulk at Islands of Adventure now, but this was back in 1991/92.
Then I came along, and Fate (or God trying to rectify His error) was determined to get us together. Our first meeting was totally unremarkable, and after a while, I actually came to dislike him! If someone had bet me that he was my future husband, I would have laid everything I owned on the line. But we had many mutual friends, so for the new few years we hovered at the edges of each other's social circle. Finally we got together and the rest, as they say, is history.
Of course, being a Disney fanatic, I was soon dragging him to Orlando once or twice a year. Having grown up in a household where I read Disney-related Little Golden Books, saw every movie from from Walt's studio, and plopped in front of the Radiation King each weekend to watch the Wonderful World of Color, I was amazed that he hadn't been exposed to any of that. It became my mission in life to convert him to the Cult of the Mouse.
My mission worked a little too well. Soon I realized that once or twice a year had morphed into once every couple of months, and he was now the one doing the dragging. We visited Disney World so often that we bought annual passes. Then, Disney Cruise Line set sail in 1998 and the obsession surpassed any realistic boundaries. At present, we are scheduled to sail on Disney Cruise #39 on Thursday September 9, but who knows if Frances will change those plans...time will tell.
At any rate, soon we felt more at home in Florida than we did back north. We decided to implement a 10 year plan to move to the Sunshine State, figuring that a decade would give us plenty of time to map out a sensible strategy. I am the kind of person who tends to plan everything down to the last detail.
Then, in October of 2002 (only a couple of years into the decade), on a last-minute trip to Florida to attend a business conference, my husband and I drove over to Celebration on a lark. We were visiting Disney Cruise Line headquarters, which is located on the outskirts of the town, so we figured, "What the heck." We had some time before our flight, so bumming around Celebration seemed like a good way to spend the time.
Within mere weeks of our visit, we had a contract on a house in Celebration and were anxiously awaiting the ground breaking. We had taken the plunge years early, with absolutely no preparation or financial planning. We hadn't looked at any other neighborhoods, and we still had jobs to tie us down in the Midwest, with no alternative prospects in the Orlando area. Buying that house was probably the most spontaneous thing I have ever done in my life.
But my husband and I have never once regretted it (the only regret comes when we have to return to work; it gets harder to board that airplane every week). Still, it's a little disconcerting that we've faced two major hurricanes after literally only one year of being Florida homeowners (and inland, which I always presumed was mostly safe).
Oh well, even with the hurricanes, I wouldn't change a thing if I could go back in time. I may not be a "misplaced native" like my husband, but I have embraced my new home wholeheartedly, and that means I take the bad with the good.
Now comes the tense weekend of watching the radar, keeping in touch with friends, checking the internet for updates, and praying. Hopefully it will change course so my next blog entry won't be "Virtual Storm: The Sequel."
If you have comments on my blog or questions about Celebration, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Check out my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can also view my Disney-related travel agency site at www.dclexpert.com and my seminar/life coaching site at www.bnlifeskills.com.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Hurricane Deja Vu
Was it really less than three weeks ago that Hurricane Charley was bearing down on Florida, and my husband and I were stuck 1500 miles away, frustrated at being unable to get to Celebration and worried about our friends and home? A hurricane striking with such destructive force inland is supposed to happen only once in a lifetime, if at all. But here comes number two, not even a month later.
As I type this, it's Wednesday evening, and we're scheduled to fly home Friday night. It's hard to say when, or even exactly where, the hurricane will strike, but nearly half-million Floridians have already been ordered to evacuate. In Palm Beach country, 300,000 residents have been warned to leave. Almost 200,000 more are being evacuated from mobile homes and low-lying areas in Brevard and Martin counties. Because of our frequent Disney cruises, I know mny people in the Brevard area, so I am praying for their safety.
It's hard to say just how hard the inland areas might get hit this time around. But even if Frances is weaker than Charley, it could strike areas that haven't yet recovered from the first devastating blow. When we flew home to Celebration last weekend, we were struck by the sight of countless blue tarps dotting the rooftops as our plane came in for a landing. The airport was still a disaster area, with wet carpet, roped-off areas and huge areas of missing ceiling tile as grim reminders of Charley's recent visit. And of course, the massive damage in the Kissimmee area isn't even lose to being fixed. Buildings that are sound in the first place might have a decent chance against Frances, but those that sustained damage will be no match if this new storm strikes with the same power.
I don't know if our flight is in danger of being cancelled yet. The last I heard was that the storm was expected to strike Florida on Saturday, but that could change at any time. With enough luck and prayers, maybe it will change course and miss the state entirely. But there's always a chance that it could come early, too, or that our flight could be cancelled so there won't be a chance of the plane being stranded at the airport the next day.
Even if we have time to get home, we face a difficult question. Do we stay in safety 1500 miles away, or do we go to Celebration to tough it out? I suspect that, if at all possible, we're going to head home. Last time, when there was no way we could get to Florida because all of the flights were cancelled, we spent every minute of the weekend obsessing. My husband was glued to the Weather Channel and the news stations, while my fingers flew across the keys of my laptop. I spend all of that Friday evening toggling between the Celebration webcam, reading the online discussions on the Front Porch and www.34747.org, and reading emails/viewing photos sent by friends who were experiencing the storm firsthand.
It was a strange, surreal experience to experience a "virtual storm." Even though we knew that our house was fine, other than some minor soffit damage, I don't think we ever really relaxed until we finally got home a week later and saw it with our own eyes.
So as crazy as it sounds, we hope that if Frances pays a visit, we'll be hunkered down in our powder room rather than far away. We consider ourselves Floridians now, and Celebration is our home, even though we have to spend too much time away. We're prepared to take the bad with the good. Florida is a paradise in many ways, but there's a price to be paid for the sunshine, palm trees, and living in Mickey's backyard.
It's now going to be a tense couple of days monitoring the weather sites on the internet and the news channels on t.v. This time around, we also have a Disney cruise planned for Thursday, September 9, along with some Celebration neighbors. Since 1998, we have sailed the Thursday or Friday before Labor Day every year, and we've had uncanny luck. We've sailed between two hurricanes (that was the infamous year that Floyd destroyed the dock at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, shutting it down for months), but we'e never been in one. This is the first year that we're deviated from that schedule, booking our cruise the Thursday after Labor Day. And lo and behold, the hurricane will probably hit the week before. If you ever want to sail in hurricane season, plan your trip when I'm cruising and the odds are that you'll be safe.
Of course, that hinges on the fact that A) the Port Canaveral area doesn't sustain major damage; and B) that we can get to Florida at least by next Thursday morning. With this crazy year and it's once-a-century one-two punch, I don't take anything for granted anymore.
I'll be saying my prayers tonight to protect everyone in danger's way. I've only been a Floridian for a year now, but Lord knows that 2004 in a year I'll never, ever forget.
If you'd like to contact me, my email address is celebration@mailblocks.com
You can find my site about Celebration, Florida, at www.celebrationinfo.com
My Disney Cruise Line site is www.castawayclub.com, my travel agency site is www.dclexpert.com, and my life skills site is www.bnlifeskills.com
As I type this, it's Wednesday evening, and we're scheduled to fly home Friday night. It's hard to say when, or even exactly where, the hurricane will strike, but nearly half-million Floridians have already been ordered to evacuate. In Palm Beach country, 300,000 residents have been warned to leave. Almost 200,000 more are being evacuated from mobile homes and low-lying areas in Brevard and Martin counties. Because of our frequent Disney cruises, I know mny people in the Brevard area, so I am praying for their safety.
It's hard to say just how hard the inland areas might get hit this time around. But even if Frances is weaker than Charley, it could strike areas that haven't yet recovered from the first devastating blow. When we flew home to Celebration last weekend, we were struck by the sight of countless blue tarps dotting the rooftops as our plane came in for a landing. The airport was still a disaster area, with wet carpet, roped-off areas and huge areas of missing ceiling tile as grim reminders of Charley's recent visit. And of course, the massive damage in the Kissimmee area isn't even lose to being fixed. Buildings that are sound in the first place might have a decent chance against Frances, but those that sustained damage will be no match if this new storm strikes with the same power.
I don't know if our flight is in danger of being cancelled yet. The last I heard was that the storm was expected to strike Florida on Saturday, but that could change at any time. With enough luck and prayers, maybe it will change course and miss the state entirely. But there's always a chance that it could come early, too, or that our flight could be cancelled so there won't be a chance of the plane being stranded at the airport the next day.
Even if we have time to get home, we face a difficult question. Do we stay in safety 1500 miles away, or do we go to Celebration to tough it out? I suspect that, if at all possible, we're going to head home. Last time, when there was no way we could get to Florida because all of the flights were cancelled, we spent every minute of the weekend obsessing. My husband was glued to the Weather Channel and the news stations, while my fingers flew across the keys of my laptop. I spend all of that Friday evening toggling between the Celebration webcam, reading the online discussions on the Front Porch and www.34747.org, and reading emails/viewing photos sent by friends who were experiencing the storm firsthand.
It was a strange, surreal experience to experience a "virtual storm." Even though we knew that our house was fine, other than some minor soffit damage, I don't think we ever really relaxed until we finally got home a week later and saw it with our own eyes.
So as crazy as it sounds, we hope that if Frances pays a visit, we'll be hunkered down in our powder room rather than far away. We consider ourselves Floridians now, and Celebration is our home, even though we have to spend too much time away. We're prepared to take the bad with the good. Florida is a paradise in many ways, but there's a price to be paid for the sunshine, palm trees, and living in Mickey's backyard.
It's now going to be a tense couple of days monitoring the weather sites on the internet and the news channels on t.v. This time around, we also have a Disney cruise planned for Thursday, September 9, along with some Celebration neighbors. Since 1998, we have sailed the Thursday or Friday before Labor Day every year, and we've had uncanny luck. We've sailed between two hurricanes (that was the infamous year that Floyd destroyed the dock at Disney's private island, Castaway Cay, shutting it down for months), but we'e never been in one. This is the first year that we're deviated from that schedule, booking our cruise the Thursday after Labor Day. And lo and behold, the hurricane will probably hit the week before. If you ever want to sail in hurricane season, plan your trip when I'm cruising and the odds are that you'll be safe.
Of course, that hinges on the fact that A) the Port Canaveral area doesn't sustain major damage; and B) that we can get to Florida at least by next Thursday morning. With this crazy year and it's once-a-century one-two punch, I don't take anything for granted anymore.
I'll be saying my prayers tonight to protect everyone in danger's way. I've only been a Floridian for a year now, but Lord knows that 2004 in a year I'll never, ever forget.
If you'd like to contact me, my email address is celebration@mailblocks.com
You can find my site about Celebration, Florida, at www.celebrationinfo.com
My Disney Cruise Line site is www.castawayclub.com, my travel agency site is www.dclexpert.com, and my life skills site is www.bnlifeskills.com
Monday, August 30, 2004
The Celebration Reputation
If you are here looking for the triplex/duplex/townhome photos in our ongoing lawncare battle, click here to see the latest additions or scroll down a couple of entries to read all about it. Otherwise, here's my latest rambling entry on life in Celebration:
A recent exchange on the Front Porch (Celebration's residents-only intranet, which features lively, and sometimes heated, discussion forums) reminded me of an aspect of living in our fair town that takes some getting used to: The Celebration Reputation.
"Just what is this reputation?" you might ask if you're not from Central Florida. Basically, when you are visiting one of the surrounding communities and mention that you are from Celebration, the stock answer is, "Oh," spoken in a tone that impossible to duplicate via the contraints of the written word.
"Oh" is such a simple two-letter word, but a person's tone can imbue it with so many shades of meaning. When spoken in regards to a person who has just confessed that they are from Celebration, it typically can be translated to, "Oh, so you're one of those high falutin' people from the Disney town."
I'm not sure how Celebration got that reputation. Even before I had visited, I thought of it as an upscale town, but in a generic sort of way. Granted, our property values have gone through the roof (I am amazed at our home's climb in value after only one year, so I can only imagine how many times over the prices have multiplied since 1995). We have our share of multi-million dollar mansions, but there are plenty of more modest dwellings, too.
The town was deliberately planned to place houses at both ends of the price spectrum within spitting distance of each other. For example, there are condos kitty corner from sprawling lakefront estate homes, and my triplex is right across the street from homes that sell for over twice the price.
Personally, I've never noticed any "class distinction" in Celebration. There is no caste system, with Village Home dwellers outranking the Garden Home sect, which looks down on The Bungalow Bunch, etc. No matter what type of home you live in, you're a welcomed member of the community at large. Occasionally, some online sniping will break out between renters and homeowners or between year 'round residents and snowbirds, but it's usually short-lived.
Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't a few people who embody the Celebration Reputation. I've only encountered them once, not long after we had signed the contract to purchase our home. Before I go into detail, here's a little background for those who are not familiar with the various Celebration home types: a triplex is actually called an "attached bungalow" in Celebration-speak, and it is the least expensive non-condo home type. We have an end unit, and I think it's somewhere around 1600 square feet, with two bedrooms (technically three if you converted the formal room on the first floor), two full baths, and a powder room. We also have a little front and back yard, a porch large enough to hang a swing, and a one-car garage with room enough to park a car in the driveway (a car-length driveway is a rarity for many Celebration dwellings). Hopefully this will give you somewhat of a mental picture.
At the time we bought our place, it was nothing but a flat, sandy patch dotted with deer tracks and a Lot 64 marker post. But the model was almost identical to the unit we were buying, both inside and out. The only big differences were the exterior paint and the fact that our formal room would have French doors, while the model's had an open wall.
This striking similarity gave my husband and I a convenient opportunity to take measurements and plot out our furniture placement. We were pretty much starting from scratch to outfit our new home, and I worked at a furniture store so I know how long it can take to get the items once you order them. This allowed us to begin our shopping early and simply arrange delivery once our house was done.
One afternoon we stopped by to take some measurements and just generally poke around, doing some starry-eyed imagining of what our dream home would look like in a few short months. While we were there, a couple of locals stopped in to look around. As they explored the model, they kept up a non-stop commentary about how they could never live in such a place and how they just couldn't believe that anyone actually would. You would have thought it was a refrigerator box under a viaduct with a shopping cart parked in front! I got the distinct impression that if they could, they would have formed an angry mob with pitchforks and torches to drive all the triplex and duplex lowlifes out of their pristine town. If they had been my first contact with Celebration residents, I probably would have been a "Reputation" believer.
Of course, as they left, they did concede to each other that such a tiny place might be okay for a vacation home if you didn't have to stay there more than one week at a time.
Perhaps I should have been offended, but I was actually more amused. Having met many other locals already, I knew that those two people were not representative of Celebration at large. All I could do was snicker at their vanity and wonder what unfortunate life experiences had caused them to tie their self-esteem into the size and price of their homes.
When they were gone, I said to my husband, "Honey, we're nothing but triplex trailer trash." (I have an odd sense of humor, but I come from the sort of family where my brother compares himself with pride to Randy Quaid in the vacation movies, right down to his eight children). I liked that label, and soon it became our little inside joke.
Now, whenever we tell someone that we're from Celebration and get that famous "Oh," we quickly qualify our statement with, "But don't worry, we're triplex trailer trash." Most people have no clue what we're talking about, but it still amuses me because it conjures up a vision of Miss Haughty and Miss Big Snoot, the living embodiments of the Celebration Reputation.
Although I joke about it, I think it's unfortunate that so many people in the surrounding areas believe that all Celebration residents are that way. In reality, it's a town full of friendly, down-to-earth, fun-loving people living normal lives in a place that somehow managed to garner an almost mythic reputation. Our snob quotient is no higher than any community with similar demographics. Personally, I believe that our "friendly factor" is greater than the norm, probably because so many people moved to Celebration based on the promise of neighborliness, which has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It still drives me a little crazy when people judge me by my address. All too often, when I admit to being from Celebration, I just know they are picturing my palatial mansion, which no doubt features Mickey Mouse as my butler. My home is modest, but even it was the biggest estate in town, that doesn't change who I am.
But I'm learning to my feelings around and to even embrace the reputation. I am just finishing my doctorate in psychology, and my focus is on cognitive/behavioral theory. One of its tenets is that you cannot control what other people think of you or do, but you can control your reaction. So why not have a little fun with it? (By the way, I discuss the concept of embracing negatives and turning them into positives in one of the articles on my professional website. Click here for the index, and select "Embrace Your Feelings."
At any rate, I consider it an honor to have others believe I am worthy of the Celebration Reputation. Those of you who have been following my blog might recall the "drive by heckling," when a carload of teens shouted, "Rich Celebration bitches on your rich Celebration bikes!" while my husband and I were pedaling around town one evening. Rather than let it bother me, my husband and I got a good laugh out of it, especially considering that we were riding our $89 K-Mart specials. But I'll be a "Celebration Rich Bitch" if they want me to be; after all, it has sort of a nice ring to it.
If only they knew they were applying that label to the same people who would actually deign to live in a house deemed too small and substandard for anything but brief vacation stints by those people in the model. But if they want to think of me as "Triplex Trailer Trash," that's fine, too. I'm honored to have such a diverse dual identity.
Maybe someday I will get a custom made t-shirt with "Celebration Rich Bitch" printed on one side and "Triplex Trailer Trash" on the other. That way, I can simply stand backwards or forwards, depending on who I am talking to. Call me what you will, as long as I am a Celebration resident.
If you have comments on my blog or questions about Celebration, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Check out my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can also view my Disney-related travel agency site at www.dclexpert.com and my seminar/life coaching site at www.bnlifeskills.com.
A recent exchange on the Front Porch (Celebration's residents-only intranet, which features lively, and sometimes heated, discussion forums) reminded me of an aspect of living in our fair town that takes some getting used to: The Celebration Reputation.
"Just what is this reputation?" you might ask if you're not from Central Florida. Basically, when you are visiting one of the surrounding communities and mention that you are from Celebration, the stock answer is, "Oh," spoken in a tone that impossible to duplicate via the contraints of the written word.
"Oh" is such a simple two-letter word, but a person's tone can imbue it with so many shades of meaning. When spoken in regards to a person who has just confessed that they are from Celebration, it typically can be translated to, "Oh, so you're one of those high falutin' people from the Disney town."
I'm not sure how Celebration got that reputation. Even before I had visited, I thought of it as an upscale town, but in a generic sort of way. Granted, our property values have gone through the roof (I am amazed at our home's climb in value after only one year, so I can only imagine how many times over the prices have multiplied since 1995). We have our share of multi-million dollar mansions, but there are plenty of more modest dwellings, too.
The town was deliberately planned to place houses at both ends of the price spectrum within spitting distance of each other. For example, there are condos kitty corner from sprawling lakefront estate homes, and my triplex is right across the street from homes that sell for over twice the price.
Personally, I've never noticed any "class distinction" in Celebration. There is no caste system, with Village Home dwellers outranking the Garden Home sect, which looks down on The Bungalow Bunch, etc. No matter what type of home you live in, you're a welcomed member of the community at large. Occasionally, some online sniping will break out between renters and homeowners or between year 'round residents and snowbirds, but it's usually short-lived.
Of course, that doesn't mean that there aren't a few people who embody the Celebration Reputation. I've only encountered them once, not long after we had signed the contract to purchase our home. Before I go into detail, here's a little background for those who are not familiar with the various Celebration home types: a triplex is actually called an "attached bungalow" in Celebration-speak, and it is the least expensive non-condo home type. We have an end unit, and I think it's somewhere around 1600 square feet, with two bedrooms (technically three if you converted the formal room on the first floor), two full baths, and a powder room. We also have a little front and back yard, a porch large enough to hang a swing, and a one-car garage with room enough to park a car in the driveway (a car-length driveway is a rarity for many Celebration dwellings). Hopefully this will give you somewhat of a mental picture.
At the time we bought our place, it was nothing but a flat, sandy patch dotted with deer tracks and a Lot 64 marker post. But the model was almost identical to the unit we were buying, both inside and out. The only big differences were the exterior paint and the fact that our formal room would have French doors, while the model's had an open wall.
This striking similarity gave my husband and I a convenient opportunity to take measurements and plot out our furniture placement. We were pretty much starting from scratch to outfit our new home, and I worked at a furniture store so I know how long it can take to get the items once you order them. This allowed us to begin our shopping early and simply arrange delivery once our house was done.
One afternoon we stopped by to take some measurements and just generally poke around, doing some starry-eyed imagining of what our dream home would look like in a few short months. While we were there, a couple of locals stopped in to look around. As they explored the model, they kept up a non-stop commentary about how they could never live in such a place and how they just couldn't believe that anyone actually would. You would have thought it was a refrigerator box under a viaduct with a shopping cart parked in front! I got the distinct impression that if they could, they would have formed an angry mob with pitchforks and torches to drive all the triplex and duplex lowlifes out of their pristine town. If they had been my first contact with Celebration residents, I probably would have been a "Reputation" believer.
Of course, as they left, they did concede to each other that such a tiny place might be okay for a vacation home if you didn't have to stay there more than one week at a time.
Perhaps I should have been offended, but I was actually more amused. Having met many other locals already, I knew that those two people were not representative of Celebration at large. All I could do was snicker at their vanity and wonder what unfortunate life experiences had caused them to tie their self-esteem into the size and price of their homes.
When they were gone, I said to my husband, "Honey, we're nothing but triplex trailer trash." (I have an odd sense of humor, but I come from the sort of family where my brother compares himself with pride to Randy Quaid in the vacation movies, right down to his eight children). I liked that label, and soon it became our little inside joke.
Now, whenever we tell someone that we're from Celebration and get that famous "Oh," we quickly qualify our statement with, "But don't worry, we're triplex trailer trash." Most people have no clue what we're talking about, but it still amuses me because it conjures up a vision of Miss Haughty and Miss Big Snoot, the living embodiments of the Celebration Reputation.
Although I joke about it, I think it's unfortunate that so many people in the surrounding areas believe that all Celebration residents are that way. In reality, it's a town full of friendly, down-to-earth, fun-loving people living normal lives in a place that somehow managed to garner an almost mythic reputation. Our snob quotient is no higher than any community with similar demographics. Personally, I believe that our "friendly factor" is greater than the norm, probably because so many people moved to Celebration based on the promise of neighborliness, which has become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It still drives me a little crazy when people judge me by my address. All too often, when I admit to being from Celebration, I just know they are picturing my palatial mansion, which no doubt features Mickey Mouse as my butler. My home is modest, but even it was the biggest estate in town, that doesn't change who I am.
But I'm learning to my feelings around and to even embrace the reputation. I am just finishing my doctorate in psychology, and my focus is on cognitive/behavioral theory. One of its tenets is that you cannot control what other people think of you or do, but you can control your reaction. So why not have a little fun with it? (By the way, I discuss the concept of embracing negatives and turning them into positives in one of the articles on my professional website. Click here for the index, and select "Embrace Your Feelings."
At any rate, I consider it an honor to have others believe I am worthy of the Celebration Reputation. Those of you who have been following my blog might recall the "drive by heckling," when a carload of teens shouted, "Rich Celebration bitches on your rich Celebration bikes!" while my husband and I were pedaling around town one evening. Rather than let it bother me, my husband and I got a good laugh out of it, especially considering that we were riding our $89 K-Mart specials. But I'll be a "Celebration Rich Bitch" if they want me to be; after all, it has sort of a nice ring to it.
If only they knew they were applying that label to the same people who would actually deign to live in a house deemed too small and substandard for anything but brief vacation stints by those people in the model. But if they want to think of me as "Triplex Trailer Trash," that's fine, too. I'm honored to have such a diverse dual identity.
Maybe someday I will get a custom made t-shirt with "Celebration Rich Bitch" printed on one side and "Triplex Trailer Trash" on the other. That way, I can simply stand backwards or forwards, depending on who I am talking to. Call me what you will, as long as I am a Celebration resident.
If you have comments on my blog or questions about Celebration, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Check out my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. You can also view my Disney-related travel agency site at www.dclexpert.com and my seminar/life coaching site at www.bnlifeskills.com.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Slow September
Since I've devoted my last several blog entries to the ongoing Yard Wars, I thought I'd slip in something about the good side of living in Celebration (if you're looking for the jungle photos, scroll down to the entry below this one). Making sure that my grass is kept below a foot and preventing the weeds from turning into something out of Little Shop of Horrors is only a small part of the overall Celebration experience.
And now that it's almost September, we're entering one of the very best times to live near Disney World. Although I titled this entry "Slow September," the dead season at the parks and tourist attractions really starts in the last week of August. The kids are heading back to school, and Mom and Dad have used up all their vacation time. The restless hordes of vacationers slow down to a trickle. And while the tourist-cats are away, the resident-mice will play.
If you are a Florida resident, you can even purchase a heavily discounted annual pass that is only good during the off-season. Since my husband and I like to go to the Disney water parks all summer, we opt for the mega-gold-good-every-day version, but if you are a casual parker, the pass with blackout dates is a great deal.
This Saturday, we drove over to Disney-MGM around noon to have lunch at the Brown Derby and see what the line situation looked like. For the most part, we didn't see anything over 30 minutes, but we grabbed Fast Passes for Rockin' Roller Coaster anyway, since the return time fit nicely into our lunch plans.
Having had a lot of fun wearing our crazy headgear (Stitch ears for me and a monorail running through my husband's head) last time we were in the parks, we had donned it once again. If you haven't already seen the infamouse Bunny Brigade photos in which we are modeling it, click here. One of our house guests gifted us with a picture frame in the shape of Cinderella's castle that will hold a number of photos. We decided to take advantage of various photo ops around the parks wearing our headgear to fill up the frame.
Our first photo of the day was snapped on the main drag after we entered the park. After indugling in my favorite Cobb salad (no other restaurant minces up the ingredients), we headed to Rockin' Roller Coaster. For the first time ever, we were actually in the front seat. I know they snap the picture just as you rocket out of the station at 60 m.p.h., so both my husband and I got a death grip on our "ears." We figured we could hold them on for the launch and then whip them off after the photo. It came out pretty decent, so we bought it for the collection.
We spent the rest of the day bopping back and forth between Tower of Terror and the roller coaster, and the crowd grew more minimal as the afternoon wore on. Soon the posted ride times were only 10 minutes. We were still doing Fast Passes when possible, but often the stand-by line was just as short as Fast Pass. Ah, the wonders of the off season!
On the Tower of Terror, getting a good picture took a couple of tries. The first time around we were in the back row and the people in front of me all had their arms in the air. You could barely see me peeking through a forest of extended limbs. The second time we were in the front, so we had another photo for our collection. Amazingly, with all the bouncing up and down, we didn't have to hang on to our head gear and it never came off.
As we were exiting the ride the first time, we noticed that someone had lost their lunch in the store. I don't consider Tower of Terror to be a vomit-inducing ride, but the brown puddle on the floor was a gross testament to my erroneous thinking. Later, when we were buying our photo, the cast member told me he had seen the vomiter exiting the ride and looking decidedly queasy. He had asked the man if he was okay, and he responded that he'd eaten some barbeque that was not agreeing with him.
We also managed to fit in The Great Movie Ride, Millionaire, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I was very disappointed in Voyage, as they have shortened the show. It was already a Cliff Notes version to begin with, but now even a person with a raging case of ADHD would be screaming, "Too short!"
My only other agenda item for the day was to get a photo of Lilo and Stitch. I have been stalking them on our Disney cruises, but although I did manage to get a shot wth Stitch once, Lilo had remained elusive. This time, there was no escape...I knew they would both be in the Animation Courtyard, and I wasn't going to allow a little thing like an anti-stalking court order to stop me!
Since we had forgotten to bring our digital camera, I had purchased a disposable just in case. I needn't have bothered, as there was a professional Disney photographer on hand to capture the moment (for a price, of course). The line was practically non-existent, so it was fun to watch Lilo and Stitch interacting with the kids. With the minimal crowd, it wasn't so rush-rush. Just another reason to love Slow September!
We got some great photos to add to the day's booty. What could be better than a shot with Stitch while wearing my Stitch ears? We got one alone with Stitch, since Lilo had slipped off to the side to interact with a cute little toddler who wasn't quite sure he should approach the characters. Suddenly Lilo realized that she was missing from the picture, and she hurried over while we posed for another shot.
On our way out of the park, we purchased our morning photo and the character pictures. The crowd had started to build again, since it was getting close to Fantasmic time, and the ride times were edging up to the 20 minute mark. Quite a change from the summer 1 to 2 hour levels just a week or two before. Although we love Fantasmic, we had decided that we would head over to Artists Point to fulfill my craving for their heavenly portabello mushroom soup. The angels cook it up in huge vats in Heaven and then fly it down to the restaurant fresh each day.
Usually your chances of finding a parking spot at the Wilderness Lodge are only slightly better than being struck by lightning. But now, with the crowd levels drained by the off-season, there were empty spots as far as the eye could see.
After a good meal, we headed home so I could whip out my scissors and fill in our castle frame with a photographic record of the day's adventures. Next week I'll scan the pictures and post a link in another blog entry.
The dead season doesn't last for too long. As September wanes, the crowd density increases steadily through October. There used to be another off-season in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but that has shortened considerably as people have discovered the secret: Enjoy the parks with minimal lines, and have the added bonus of seeing them decked out for the holidays.
Oh well, I'll still enjoy it while it lasts. If you are at Disney World during Labor Day week and see a man with a monorail running through his head, accompanied by a Stitch-woman, be sure to say hello.
If you have any comments about my blog, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com
And now that it's almost September, we're entering one of the very best times to live near Disney World. Although I titled this entry "Slow September," the dead season at the parks and tourist attractions really starts in the last week of August. The kids are heading back to school, and Mom and Dad have used up all their vacation time. The restless hordes of vacationers slow down to a trickle. And while the tourist-cats are away, the resident-mice will play.
If you are a Florida resident, you can even purchase a heavily discounted annual pass that is only good during the off-season. Since my husband and I like to go to the Disney water parks all summer, we opt for the mega-gold-good-every-day version, but if you are a casual parker, the pass with blackout dates is a great deal.
This Saturday, we drove over to Disney-MGM around noon to have lunch at the Brown Derby and see what the line situation looked like. For the most part, we didn't see anything over 30 minutes, but we grabbed Fast Passes for Rockin' Roller Coaster anyway, since the return time fit nicely into our lunch plans.
Having had a lot of fun wearing our crazy headgear (Stitch ears for me and a monorail running through my husband's head) last time we were in the parks, we had donned it once again. If you haven't already seen the infamouse Bunny Brigade photos in which we are modeling it, click here. One of our house guests gifted us with a picture frame in the shape of Cinderella's castle that will hold a number of photos. We decided to take advantage of various photo ops around the parks wearing our headgear to fill up the frame.
Our first photo of the day was snapped on the main drag after we entered the park. After indugling in my favorite Cobb salad (no other restaurant minces up the ingredients), we headed to Rockin' Roller Coaster. For the first time ever, we were actually in the front seat. I know they snap the picture just as you rocket out of the station at 60 m.p.h., so both my husband and I got a death grip on our "ears." We figured we could hold them on for the launch and then whip them off after the photo. It came out pretty decent, so we bought it for the collection.
We spent the rest of the day bopping back and forth between Tower of Terror and the roller coaster, and the crowd grew more minimal as the afternoon wore on. Soon the posted ride times were only 10 minutes. We were still doing Fast Passes when possible, but often the stand-by line was just as short as Fast Pass. Ah, the wonders of the off season!
On the Tower of Terror, getting a good picture took a couple of tries. The first time around we were in the back row and the people in front of me all had their arms in the air. You could barely see me peeking through a forest of extended limbs. The second time we were in the front, so we had another photo for our collection. Amazingly, with all the bouncing up and down, we didn't have to hang on to our head gear and it never came off.
As we were exiting the ride the first time, we noticed that someone had lost their lunch in the store. I don't consider Tower of Terror to be a vomit-inducing ride, but the brown puddle on the floor was a gross testament to my erroneous thinking. Later, when we were buying our photo, the cast member told me he had seen the vomiter exiting the ride and looking decidedly queasy. He had asked the man if he was okay, and he responded that he'd eaten some barbeque that was not agreeing with him.
We also managed to fit in The Great Movie Ride, Millionaire, and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. I was very disappointed in Voyage, as they have shortened the show. It was already a Cliff Notes version to begin with, but now even a person with a raging case of ADHD would be screaming, "Too short!"
My only other agenda item for the day was to get a photo of Lilo and Stitch. I have been stalking them on our Disney cruises, but although I did manage to get a shot wth Stitch once, Lilo had remained elusive. This time, there was no escape...I knew they would both be in the Animation Courtyard, and I wasn't going to allow a little thing like an anti-stalking court order to stop me!
Since we had forgotten to bring our digital camera, I had purchased a disposable just in case. I needn't have bothered, as there was a professional Disney photographer on hand to capture the moment (for a price, of course). The line was practically non-existent, so it was fun to watch Lilo and Stitch interacting with the kids. With the minimal crowd, it wasn't so rush-rush. Just another reason to love Slow September!
We got some great photos to add to the day's booty. What could be better than a shot with Stitch while wearing my Stitch ears? We got one alone with Stitch, since Lilo had slipped off to the side to interact with a cute little toddler who wasn't quite sure he should approach the characters. Suddenly Lilo realized that she was missing from the picture, and she hurried over while we posed for another shot.
On our way out of the park, we purchased our morning photo and the character pictures. The crowd had started to build again, since it was getting close to Fantasmic time, and the ride times were edging up to the 20 minute mark. Quite a change from the summer 1 to 2 hour levels just a week or two before. Although we love Fantasmic, we had decided that we would head over to Artists Point to fulfill my craving for their heavenly portabello mushroom soup. The angels cook it up in huge vats in Heaven and then fly it down to the restaurant fresh each day.
Usually your chances of finding a parking spot at the Wilderness Lodge are only slightly better than being struck by lightning. But now, with the crowd levels drained by the off-season, there were empty spots as far as the eye could see.
After a good meal, we headed home so I could whip out my scissors and fill in our castle frame with a photographic record of the day's adventures. Next week I'll scan the pictures and post a link in another blog entry.
The dead season doesn't last for too long. As September wanes, the crowd density increases steadily through October. There used to be another off-season in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but that has shortened considerably as people have discovered the secret: Enjoy the parks with minimal lines, and have the added bonus of seeing them decked out for the holidays.
Oh well, I'll still enjoy it while it lasts. If you are at Disney World during Labor Day week and see a man with a monorail running through his head, accompanied by a Stitch-woman, be sure to say hello.
If you have any comments about my blog, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
Visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com
Saturday, August 28, 2004
My Life as a Radical
The jungle that was my yard has finally been hacked into submission (thanks, Charlie!), but that one tiny battle is a long way from winning the war. My neighbors and I have been lambasted for complaining about the landscaper, Davey, in the wake of Charley, since they have been busy trying to save the trees. What those who toss snide comments our way on the intranet don't realize is that Charley simply brought things to a head. We have dealt with poor-to-non-existent lawn care for at least a year, and the overgrowth that was not mowed from August 5 to August 28 finally spurred the triplex/duplex/townhome owners into publicly breaking their silence.
Interestingly enough, since I posted my photos of the East Village jungle, which can still be found, along with some new photos from South Village, by clicking here, I have heard from several others in the same situation. I am going to dig out my pre-Hurricane Charley photos to post for the naysayers who blame our poor lawn care on the tree-saving efforts. Hopefully I will be able to post some neighbors' photos too, and some of them are much worse than my yard!
All of this has turned me into a radical, championing my very first Celebration cause. Since I have learned that the problem is by no means isolated at my lone triplex, I plan to harness the power in numbers. I am going to start a petition asking that duplex/triplex/townhome owners be provided with the following in writing:
-An exact explanation of the services that we are supposed to receive. At present, we are told things like "You'll get mulch twice a year" (we've never gotten it once, maybe because no one ever specified which year, and "Your lawn is mowed less frequently at some times of the year because it has to be mowed more frequently at others. I think we should know exactly when the mulchings will occur, how often our yards will be weeded, and what criteria (e.g. grass length, rainfall, temperature, or whatever) dictate the frequency of the grass care.
-A procedure for making reimbursement claims for damage. One of my solar lanterns was destroyed by a weed whacker, and I've learned that was relatively minor compared to what some of my neighbors have suffered. Collateral damage caused by carelessness is not acceptable.
-An effective complaint procedure. Right now, we call Town Hall with our complaints, and while things might improve for a while, overall we're in the same boat now as we were a year ago. I think we should be able to deal directly with someone at Davey. After all, we would be able to do that if we were homeowners hiring our own firm. Why should it be any different just because we live in attached houses?
To be fair, this might not entirely be Davey's fault. I suspect that they are geared to large commercial accounts, and using them for the triplexes/duplexes/townhomes was an afterthought since they already do the public areas of Celebration. I'm beginning to think they just aren't equipped and experienced in dealing with small, private yards. Charley has shown quite graphially that while they might respond well to an emergency, it's at the expense of other customers.
If that is the case and they just can't give us the service that we should be receiving due to their own business limitations, we'll petition for our contract to be awarded to another landscaping firm. There are plenty of landscapers who do a beautiful job on the yards of the single family homes all around us. While our jungle grew around us for the past three weeks, I watched as the lawns of all my neighbors were mowed by the various companies they employ. I don't think any of them went longer than a week after Charley with their grass being mowed.
Enough of my ranting and raving. I know that there are bigger issues in the world, like Save the Whales and whatnot. This one is of absolutely no importance to anyone but me and my fellow duplex/triplex/townhome owners. But I'm sure that most other great radicals and agitators in the world started small. You have to cut your teeth on a minor issue before you move on to the big stuff.
So the Great Celebration Lawn Crusade will be the first battle for me. If you live in a multi-family home in our lovely town, watch for me to turn up at your door wielding my petition the week of September 6th. And if you're not a resident, let this be a lesson to not believe all those myths about our town. Perfect lawns are not a reality in Celebration, and if you maintain a jungle, you won't be fined or publicly whipped and placed in stockades in front of the lake. If that were the truth, my neighbors and I would be on permanent display downtown.
Now there's an interesting idea. Maybe we can publicly stockade people who do unneighborly things like not picking up dog poop, letting their cars get rust spots, and hanging tie-dyed curtains in their windows. Then we charge tourists five bucks a piece to toss tomatoes at them, will all proceeds going towards building a combination library/multi-level parking structure downtown.
Hmmmm, maybe the newly molded radical has found her next crusade!
If you have any comments about my blog, or if you happen to be a fellow disgruntled duplex/triplex/townhome owner, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information on Celebration (which is a wonderful place to live...despite my occasional tirades, I'd never want to be anywhere else), visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com.
Interestingly enough, since I posted my photos of the East Village jungle, which can still be found, along with some new photos from South Village, by clicking here, I have heard from several others in the same situation. I am going to dig out my pre-Hurricane Charley photos to post for the naysayers who blame our poor lawn care on the tree-saving efforts. Hopefully I will be able to post some neighbors' photos too, and some of them are much worse than my yard!
All of this has turned me into a radical, championing my very first Celebration cause. Since I have learned that the problem is by no means isolated at my lone triplex, I plan to harness the power in numbers. I am going to start a petition asking that duplex/triplex/townhome owners be provided with the following in writing:
-An exact explanation of the services that we are supposed to receive. At present, we are told things like "You'll get mulch twice a year" (we've never gotten it once, maybe because no one ever specified which year, and "Your lawn is mowed less frequently at some times of the year because it has to be mowed more frequently at others. I think we should know exactly when the mulchings will occur, how often our yards will be weeded, and what criteria (e.g. grass length, rainfall, temperature, or whatever) dictate the frequency of the grass care.
-A procedure for making reimbursement claims for damage. One of my solar lanterns was destroyed by a weed whacker, and I've learned that was relatively minor compared to what some of my neighbors have suffered. Collateral damage caused by carelessness is not acceptable.
-An effective complaint procedure. Right now, we call Town Hall with our complaints, and while things might improve for a while, overall we're in the same boat now as we were a year ago. I think we should be able to deal directly with someone at Davey. After all, we would be able to do that if we were homeowners hiring our own firm. Why should it be any different just because we live in attached houses?
To be fair, this might not entirely be Davey's fault. I suspect that they are geared to large commercial accounts, and using them for the triplexes/duplexes/townhomes was an afterthought since they already do the public areas of Celebration. I'm beginning to think they just aren't equipped and experienced in dealing with small, private yards. Charley has shown quite graphially that while they might respond well to an emergency, it's at the expense of other customers.
If that is the case and they just can't give us the service that we should be receiving due to their own business limitations, we'll petition for our contract to be awarded to another landscaping firm. There are plenty of landscapers who do a beautiful job on the yards of the single family homes all around us. While our jungle grew around us for the past three weeks, I watched as the lawns of all my neighbors were mowed by the various companies they employ. I don't think any of them went longer than a week after Charley with their grass being mowed.
Enough of my ranting and raving. I know that there are bigger issues in the world, like Save the Whales and whatnot. This one is of absolutely no importance to anyone but me and my fellow duplex/triplex/townhome owners. But I'm sure that most other great radicals and agitators in the world started small. You have to cut your teeth on a minor issue before you move on to the big stuff.
So the Great Celebration Lawn Crusade will be the first battle for me. If you live in a multi-family home in our lovely town, watch for me to turn up at your door wielding my petition the week of September 6th. And if you're not a resident, let this be a lesson to not believe all those myths about our town. Perfect lawns are not a reality in Celebration, and if you maintain a jungle, you won't be fined or publicly whipped and placed in stockades in front of the lake. If that were the truth, my neighbors and I would be on permanent display downtown.
Now there's an interesting idea. Maybe we can publicly stockade people who do unneighborly things like not picking up dog poop, letting their cars get rust spots, and hanging tie-dyed curtains in their windows. Then we charge tourists five bucks a piece to toss tomatoes at them, will all proceeds going towards building a combination library/multi-level parking structure downtown.
Hmmmm, maybe the newly molded radical has found her next crusade!
If you have any comments about my blog, or if you happen to be a fellow disgruntled duplex/triplex/townhome owner, email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information on Celebration (which is a wonderful place to live...despite my occasional tirades, I'd never want to be anywhere else), visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com.
Friday, August 27, 2004
Rumble in the Jungle
We're back home in the East Village Jungle, the newest village in Celebration. Actually, it's my sarcastic way to refer to my triplex yard, which hasn't been mowed since August 5th (for perspective, Charley occurred on August 13th, and it's now the 27th). You can see photos of this lovely new area, which is sure to become a tourist attraction, by clicking here.
But still, it's great to be home, even though I had to hack my way through the yard with a machete to get there. It annoys me because I like to park in my driveway rather than on the street in front of my house, but that involves trekking through the soggy, mosquito-infested grass (I have stepping stones, but as you will see if you click through to the photos, the greenery has pretty much taken them over).
Oh well, I need to remind myself that I am pompous and self-centered and that I should think of the people who have it worse, like the 80 households in Kissimmee who do not have their power back on yet. I really do feel very sorry for them, as they've been without electricity for two weeks now. In the Florida summer, that has to be miserable. The news just reported that many are going to have severe mold problems because once carpeting gets wet, it becomes a breeding ground for mold if it is not thoroughly dried out. Drying involves fans, and of course fans require power.
As we were flying in tonight, it was weird to see all the bright blue tarps festooning the roofs in little neighborhood clusters. Last week, we arrived in town very late, but this time we arrived while it was still daylight, so we could see a lot of roof damage from 417. Besides the tarped roofs, there were many Florida rooms that appeared to have been crushed by some giant, unseen fist that descended out of the sky. I hope that the tarps and makeshift repairs will keep the water out until the roofs can be replaced. My husband and I lost our home in a flood several years back, so I know just how damaging it can be. It's hard to believe, but it can be just as destructive as a fire.
We were amazed at the progress in the airport repairs, since it's only been a week since our last jaunt through Orlando International. It's still a wreck, but you can see that they are working hard and fast. We noticed some progress on the ceiling and some of the seats restored to one of the boarding areas in the A Terminal.
When we arrived in Celebration, things were starting to look a lot more normal, with the exception of the rigging around many of the trees. The little tree in front of our house has been put up again, and this time it's banded into the ground. Hopefully it will survive; it's looking a little peaked, but then again, it's never really been all that healthy or robust. I like it because I think of it as the "regulation Celebration tree." If you look at any triplex of the same style as ours, there is a tree planted in front of it in exactly the same position.
Since we had gotten home early for once, we headed over to Boma, the buffet restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, for dinner. Since I knew we should be touching down around dinner time, I had been planning to call for a priority seating. But my husband convinced me that if I did that, I would curse us and our flight would be delayed. I held off on calling until we had touched down in Orlando, and I dialed 1-407-WDW-DINE (one of my favorite phone numbers) as we were taxi-ing to the gate. Thankfully, we were still able to get in.
Normally, when we got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner, we eat at Jiko, an absolutely wonderful restaurant. It is quite upscale and features cuisine with an African fare (for example, last week I dined on beef rolls with banana sauce and maize tamales, topped off with a mission fig torte for dessert topped with delicious sour yogurt ice cream (I am being 100 percent sincere when I say "delicious," as the ice cream tastes much better than its name would imply).
But not long ago, my husband read an article in Disney Magazine featuring various buffet restaurants at the Disney World resort. He was drooling by the time he had finished perusing the description of Boma, so we decided that we would try something new.
Boma was as good as the article claimed, although the food might be a bit exotic for some tastes. I was in love with the salads, which featured things like sliced watermelon rind in ginger and a curried potato salad, as well as a fruit salad straight from Heaven and cold corn seasoned heavily with cilantro. That is where I concentrated my culinary focus, although I did try some seafood soup and a few of the starches (they were good, but not things I could readily identify). My husband is more of a Renaissance Man, so he tried a little bit of everything.
Even though our stomaches were near bursting, we had to try the desserts too. My award for Most Delectible is a split between the banana budding and the coconut "cake," both enhanced with a generous drizzling of vanilla sauce.
I ordered iced tea to drink, while my husband went for two ends of the spectrum, with a presspot of Kenya coffee and a glass of Gameskeepers Reserve wine (his favorite at Jiko). Interestingly enough, he said that he will stick to the coffee next time because wine doesn't enhance the varied flavors of a buffet meal in the same way that it does a single entree. My husband, the wine connoisseur! Hard to believe he never would have dreamed of using wine to enhance a meal just two or three short years ago. I think that our frequent cruise ship jaunts have turned him into a lush. You can read the trip reports for some of our 38 Disney cruises by clicking here for my Disney Cruise Line blog, or visit my website at www.disneycruiser.info.
At any rate, our meal was an excellent experience. I typically hate buffets because I have seen too many gross goings-on at various restaurants, like a kid licking several desserts and then placing each one back, to be taken by some unsuspecting soul. But I will make an exception if the food is very good (Chef Mickey's is one buffet I never turn down), and I have placed Boma into that category.
The rain was threatening, so we didn't walk out on the savannah to see the animals after dinner. Animal spotting is one thing I always enjoy doing after a good meal at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Oh well, I don't have to worry. It's bedtime as I write this, but I'll just try to get up at sunset tomorrow morning, and perhaps I'll be able to spot some exotic critters in my own private "savannah" on my overgrown lawn.
Visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com and email any questions or comments to celebration@mailblocks.com
But still, it's great to be home, even though I had to hack my way through the yard with a machete to get there. It annoys me because I like to park in my driveway rather than on the street in front of my house, but that involves trekking through the soggy, mosquito-infested grass (I have stepping stones, but as you will see if you click through to the photos, the greenery has pretty much taken them over).
Oh well, I need to remind myself that I am pompous and self-centered and that I should think of the people who have it worse, like the 80 households in Kissimmee who do not have their power back on yet. I really do feel very sorry for them, as they've been without electricity for two weeks now. In the Florida summer, that has to be miserable. The news just reported that many are going to have severe mold problems because once carpeting gets wet, it becomes a breeding ground for mold if it is not thoroughly dried out. Drying involves fans, and of course fans require power.
As we were flying in tonight, it was weird to see all the bright blue tarps festooning the roofs in little neighborhood clusters. Last week, we arrived in town very late, but this time we arrived while it was still daylight, so we could see a lot of roof damage from 417. Besides the tarped roofs, there were many Florida rooms that appeared to have been crushed by some giant, unseen fist that descended out of the sky. I hope that the tarps and makeshift repairs will keep the water out until the roofs can be replaced. My husband and I lost our home in a flood several years back, so I know just how damaging it can be. It's hard to believe, but it can be just as destructive as a fire.
We were amazed at the progress in the airport repairs, since it's only been a week since our last jaunt through Orlando International. It's still a wreck, but you can see that they are working hard and fast. We noticed some progress on the ceiling and some of the seats restored to one of the boarding areas in the A Terminal.
When we arrived in Celebration, things were starting to look a lot more normal, with the exception of the rigging around many of the trees. The little tree in front of our house has been put up again, and this time it's banded into the ground. Hopefully it will survive; it's looking a little peaked, but then again, it's never really been all that healthy or robust. I like it because I think of it as the "regulation Celebration tree." If you look at any triplex of the same style as ours, there is a tree planted in front of it in exactly the same position.
Since we had gotten home early for once, we headed over to Boma, the buffet restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, for dinner. Since I knew we should be touching down around dinner time, I had been planning to call for a priority seating. But my husband convinced me that if I did that, I would curse us and our flight would be delayed. I held off on calling until we had touched down in Orlando, and I dialed 1-407-WDW-DINE (one of my favorite phone numbers) as we were taxi-ing to the gate. Thankfully, we were still able to get in.
Normally, when we got to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner, we eat at Jiko, an absolutely wonderful restaurant. It is quite upscale and features cuisine with an African fare (for example, last week I dined on beef rolls with banana sauce and maize tamales, topped off with a mission fig torte for dessert topped with delicious sour yogurt ice cream (I am being 100 percent sincere when I say "delicious," as the ice cream tastes much better than its name would imply).
But not long ago, my husband read an article in Disney Magazine featuring various buffet restaurants at the Disney World resort. He was drooling by the time he had finished perusing the description of Boma, so we decided that we would try something new.
Boma was as good as the article claimed, although the food might be a bit exotic for some tastes. I was in love with the salads, which featured things like sliced watermelon rind in ginger and a curried potato salad, as well as a fruit salad straight from Heaven and cold corn seasoned heavily with cilantro. That is where I concentrated my culinary focus, although I did try some seafood soup and a few of the starches (they were good, but not things I could readily identify). My husband is more of a Renaissance Man, so he tried a little bit of everything.
Even though our stomaches were near bursting, we had to try the desserts too. My award for Most Delectible is a split between the banana budding and the coconut "cake," both enhanced with a generous drizzling of vanilla sauce.
I ordered iced tea to drink, while my husband went for two ends of the spectrum, with a presspot of Kenya coffee and a glass of Gameskeepers Reserve wine (his favorite at Jiko). Interestingly enough, he said that he will stick to the coffee next time because wine doesn't enhance the varied flavors of a buffet meal in the same way that it does a single entree. My husband, the wine connoisseur! Hard to believe he never would have dreamed of using wine to enhance a meal just two or three short years ago. I think that our frequent cruise ship jaunts have turned him into a lush. You can read the trip reports for some of our 38 Disney cruises by clicking here for my Disney Cruise Line blog, or visit my website at www.disneycruiser.info.
At any rate, our meal was an excellent experience. I typically hate buffets because I have seen too many gross goings-on at various restaurants, like a kid licking several desserts and then placing each one back, to be taken by some unsuspecting soul. But I will make an exception if the food is very good (Chef Mickey's is one buffet I never turn down), and I have placed Boma into that category.
The rain was threatening, so we didn't walk out on the savannah to see the animals after dinner. Animal spotting is one thing I always enjoy doing after a good meal at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Oh well, I don't have to worry. It's bedtime as I write this, but I'll just try to get up at sunset tomorrow morning, and perhaps I'll be able to spot some exotic critters in my own private "savannah" on my overgrown lawn.
Visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com and email any questions or comments to celebration@mailblocks.com
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
Life Goes On
As I write this, Hurricane Charley is now almost two weeks off into history, and life goes on in Celebration along with the rest of Florida. Granted, for us it is much easier than the harder-hit areas just a few miles away. The minor roof damage in Celebration is barely noticable compared to the houses covered in tarps because their roofs are all but missing in Kissimmee, Poinciana, and many of the surrounding areas. Power restoration was never an issue for our town, since we never even had a blip in electricity. Meanwhile, our neighboring communities waited through long, sweaty days with no refrigerators, let alone air conditioning; many of them couldn't even find relief in a cool shower because their water was off, too.
No doubt about it: Charley carved a swath of tragedy and destruction, destroying people's lives. But even in the wake of disaster, the mundane problems in life continue, too. In Celebration, people park illegally by the school. They speed and run the stop signs, causing heating discussions on the Front Porch intranet. Online, people also stress about the condominiums that are slated to be built in the parking lots downtown and the upcoming elections.
All of those issues seemed to be critically important before Charley struck. Then, suddenly, they paled in comparison to the destroyed homes and loss of life. Things cooled down for a while, and people concentrated on organizing relief efforts and ways to help in the surrounding communities.
Still, even in the aftermath, the small problems continue. They just get put into a new perspective. But that doesn't make them any less annoying, especially as time goes on and the disaster fades into the past. The only thing is, you have to be careful A.C. (After Charley), because some people think that it's politically incorrect to mention any problem smaller than death, or at least dismemberment.
Case in point: Months and months before Charley struck (actually, ever since we moved to our triplex), the lawn care has been spotty at best. It's included in our monthly maintenance fees, and we don't have any say in the selection of the landscaping company. Since we've moved in, it has always been Davey, the company that handles landscaping for the parks and public areas of the town, too.
Typically, our grass grows into a lush, green jungle that takes over the flower beds and attempts to choke out the bushes before someone finally shows up to beat it back with a weed whacker (yes, they cut our lawn with a weed whacker!). In the process, our bushes and flowers often suffer fatal blows along with grass, and the mulch flies around like brown confetti, while the weeds remain virtually untouched.
Prior to Charley, the grass was already getting long. Then, in the immediate aftermath, Davey was understandably preoccupied with trying to clear trees from the roads and to prop up the ones that might be salvagable (ironically, many that were propped up toppled right back over a week later when another storm came through).
As the days wore on and the thicket grew more lush, my neighbors and I began to wonder if we'd ever see Davey again. Normally when it gets too bad, I get on the phone to Town Hall. But even though it had been many days since Charley, I didn't want to seem insensitive.
Then I saw a post from another duplex/triplex owner on the forums at 34747.org, so I had to toss in my two cents. The retribution was swift! I was quickly labeled (quote) a spoiled, self-centered, pompous whiner (end quote), because I would (quote) complain about such unimportant issues in the face of genuine suffering by others (end quote). Of course, this was posted by an anonymous person, as such judgemental missives normally are.
Shame on me! People are homeless, people are dead, and all that I can think about is my yard! A proper approach would apparently be to wait until the grass reaches my roof. Since I knew that yard care was supposed to be included when I bought the house, I don't own a lawn mower to cut the grass myself. Interestingly enough, I don't think many of my neighbors own one either...even though who live in houses. In Celebration, doing your own yard work is as rare as finding something for free at Disney World.
Being a cognitive psychologist (see my website at www.bnlifeskills.com ), I don't let other people's name calling bother me. The lynchpin of cognitive therapy is that you can't control externals, including other people, but you can control your own reaction to external factors. Why bother to get distressed over someone else's opinion? I'm more likely to wonder what life experiences made them so judgemental; perhaps it's their own way of dealing with tragedy. But I do find it fascinating that the duplex/triplex owners are expected to continue to pay for services that they never receive, with no refund.
If that makes me a whiner, so be it. I was already called a "Rich Celebration bitch" in the famous drive-by heckling chronicled in a previous blog entry (click here to read it). This was mild by comparison.
All kidding aside, I know just how lucky I am that one of the worst problems in my life is the condition of my lawn. I know firsthand what it's like to lose your home to a disaster, as my husband and I experienced that several years ago. We lost items that can never be replaced and were displaced for almost three months. It's a horrible thing, but life doesn't stop around you when disaster strikes.
I have tried to do what I can to help my neighbors, and in the meantime, I thank God that my own life and the lives of my neighbors are pretty much back to normal. Part of that normalcy is complaining about the mundane, everyday things. The threads on the Front Porch have shifted from relief efforts back to downtown parking and pre-election snipes. My biggest worry isn't whether my home might be blown down while I'm stuck 1500 miles away; now, my biggest fear is that I won't be able to find it because it will be surrounded by an impenetrable forest of green. Life may throw some curves balls, but eventually life goes on.
Check out my Celebration website at http://www.celebrationinfo.com and email any comments to celebration@mailblocks.com
No doubt about it: Charley carved a swath of tragedy and destruction, destroying people's lives. But even in the wake of disaster, the mundane problems in life continue, too. In Celebration, people park illegally by the school. They speed and run the stop signs, causing heating discussions on the Front Porch intranet. Online, people also stress about the condominiums that are slated to be built in the parking lots downtown and the upcoming elections.
All of those issues seemed to be critically important before Charley struck. Then, suddenly, they paled in comparison to the destroyed homes and loss of life. Things cooled down for a while, and people concentrated on organizing relief efforts and ways to help in the surrounding communities.
Still, even in the aftermath, the small problems continue. They just get put into a new perspective. But that doesn't make them any less annoying, especially as time goes on and the disaster fades into the past. The only thing is, you have to be careful A.C. (After Charley), because some people think that it's politically incorrect to mention any problem smaller than death, or at least dismemberment.
Case in point: Months and months before Charley struck (actually, ever since we moved to our triplex), the lawn care has been spotty at best. It's included in our monthly maintenance fees, and we don't have any say in the selection of the landscaping company. Since we've moved in, it has always been Davey, the company that handles landscaping for the parks and public areas of the town, too.
Typically, our grass grows into a lush, green jungle that takes over the flower beds and attempts to choke out the bushes before someone finally shows up to beat it back with a weed whacker (yes, they cut our lawn with a weed whacker!). In the process, our bushes and flowers often suffer fatal blows along with grass, and the mulch flies around like brown confetti, while the weeds remain virtually untouched.
Prior to Charley, the grass was already getting long. Then, in the immediate aftermath, Davey was understandably preoccupied with trying to clear trees from the roads and to prop up the ones that might be salvagable (ironically, many that were propped up toppled right back over a week later when another storm came through).
As the days wore on and the thicket grew more lush, my neighbors and I began to wonder if we'd ever see Davey again. Normally when it gets too bad, I get on the phone to Town Hall. But even though it had been many days since Charley, I didn't want to seem insensitive.
Then I saw a post from another duplex/triplex owner on the forums at 34747.org, so I had to toss in my two cents. The retribution was swift! I was quickly labeled (quote) a spoiled, self-centered, pompous whiner (end quote), because I would (quote) complain about such unimportant issues in the face of genuine suffering by others (end quote). Of course, this was posted by an anonymous person, as such judgemental missives normally are.
Shame on me! People are homeless, people are dead, and all that I can think about is my yard! A proper approach would apparently be to wait until the grass reaches my roof. Since I knew that yard care was supposed to be included when I bought the house, I don't own a lawn mower to cut the grass myself. Interestingly enough, I don't think many of my neighbors own one either...even though who live in houses. In Celebration, doing your own yard work is as rare as finding something for free at Disney World.
Being a cognitive psychologist (see my website at www.bnlifeskills.com ), I don't let other people's name calling bother me. The lynchpin of cognitive therapy is that you can't control externals, including other people, but you can control your own reaction to external factors. Why bother to get distressed over someone else's opinion? I'm more likely to wonder what life experiences made them so judgemental; perhaps it's their own way of dealing with tragedy. But I do find it fascinating that the duplex/triplex owners are expected to continue to pay for services that they never receive, with no refund.
If that makes me a whiner, so be it. I was already called a "Rich Celebration bitch" in the famous drive-by heckling chronicled in a previous blog entry (click here to read it). This was mild by comparison.
All kidding aside, I know just how lucky I am that one of the worst problems in my life is the condition of my lawn. I know firsthand what it's like to lose your home to a disaster, as my husband and I experienced that several years ago. We lost items that can never be replaced and were displaced for almost three months. It's a horrible thing, but life doesn't stop around you when disaster strikes.
I have tried to do what I can to help my neighbors, and in the meantime, I thank God that my own life and the lives of my neighbors are pretty much back to normal. Part of that normalcy is complaining about the mundane, everyday things. The threads on the Front Porch have shifted from relief efforts back to downtown parking and pre-election snipes. My biggest worry isn't whether my home might be blown down while I'm stuck 1500 miles away; now, my biggest fear is that I won't be able to find it because it will be surrounded by an impenetrable forest of green. Life may throw some curves balls, but eventually life goes on.
Check out my Celebration website at http://www.celebrationinfo.com and email any comments to celebration@mailblocks.com
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Happy Anniversary
We finally made it back home to Celebration, just in time to celebration our one year anniversary. Hard to believe that we've owned our house for twelve full months now. Seems like only a month or two ago that we were just getting ready to close and were in the whirlwind process of setting up furniture deliveries, juggling utility hook-ups, and praying that we could find a company willing to sell us home insurance. It felt strange to beg insurance companies to take our money.
Up north, the insurance companies fight to sell you a policy, but in the Land Of Hurricanes it can be a real challenge. Our problem was that we were honest about the fact that we'd be commuting back and forth from another home for a year or two. Once we revealed that, all of the companies wanted to classify us as a vacation rental, even though I'd rather walk over hot coals and broken glass barefoot, with bamboo shoots stuck under my fingernails and nails stuck in my nostrils, than rent out my home to hordes of destructive vacationers. That's not even allowed in Celebration; I know there are many other areas where people buy properties strictly to lease them out, but we bought our house to be our home. It makes no difference to us that we are stuck commuting 1500 miles every couple of weeks, but apparently it makes a lot of difference to insurers.
But we did finally find an insurer and get everything else sorted out. It all came together on August 21, 2004, and we became the proud owners of our modest but beloved Celebration home. And now, one year later, it had survived the seasonal onslaught of love bugs, nearly catching on fire from a screwed up connection at the electric meter, an endless parade of service personnel trying to fix our endlessly screwed up furniture, and, most frightening of all, the wrath of Hurricane Charley.
Celebration was actually spared the worst of Charley's fury. Sure, we lost a lot of trees, and many people had roof shingles and soffits blown off, but that's nothing compared to those who lost entire homes, and even their lives, in other parts of the state. As I type this blog entry, a news scroll on Fox 35 says that the hurricane's death toll has risen to 25.
When my husband and I landed at Orlando International Airport Friday night, we were stunned to see most of the ceiling tile missing in the A terminal. The seating areas were all roped off, and we could see that the repair effort is going to be massive.
We haven't bought a car in Florida yet, so we rent one while we are home. At Avis, there was a severe car shortage caused by the fact that many people who couldn't get flights last week simply drove their rentals home. That is compounded by the gasoline shortage in some areas. People can't find a station to fill up their car before returning it, so the onsite rental companies have to take them to be gassed up before they can go back out. Even though there was no line at the counter, we waited in the garage half an hour for a car to be brought from the gassing/servicing area.
By the time our car showed up and we got on the road, the witching hour had arrived and it was now officially our anniversary day. As we drove on 417 towards Celebration, we could see some of the tree damage even in the dark. It was more apparent when we arrived in town, although many of the fallen trees had been righted and propped up with stakes. I was heartbroken when we arrived at the street by our alley, where the new condominiums are being built. There was a park across the street from the condos, shaded with a canopy of green from many old, original trees that had been saved during the development process. Now, most of them had tumbled like a child's toys.
The next day we went biking around town, and we were amazed at the number of felled trees through every village. It wasn't just the small, recently planted trees that hadn't had a chance to root deeply yet. Many of the older giants had been pushed over or even snapped off like toothpicks. Later, we went driving down Celebration Boulevard toward World Drive, and the palm trees lining both sides of the street had tumbled quite literally like dominoes.
During our bike trip, we stopped downtown to enjoy some iced coffee from Barnies, and we decided to grab a quick lunch at Market Street Cafe. It wasn't too busy, but some sort of silent signal must have gone out over the airwaves. As we approached, so did literally five or six other groups of people. Four of them walked in literally right in front of us, and the rest behind. It was funny to see so many people apparently get the urge to eat at the cafe right at the same time. My husband had a hankering for a burger, but one of the daily specials tempted him away. It was spinach and mushroom quesadillas, and I'd admit they were wonderful! They tasted almost like spinach dip served up on flour tortillas. But I didn't suffer too badly with my usual chili cheese nachos.
For dessert, we headed over to the grand opening of Cold Stone Creamery at at the new Water Tower Place shopping center. They had passed out free coupons to Celebration residents, but we decided to save that until later. The store had pledged its first day profits to Give Kids the World, so we figured it would be best to pay cash (a free coupon is zero percent profit!). Cold Stone takes their home made ice cream and mixes in your selection of an array of delicious accompaniments, like candy, nuts, fruit, and/or marshmallows. Mmmmmmm!
Then, we took a drive down 192 to the old section of Kissimmee to see for ourselves all the destruction we'd heard about. The farther away from Celebration we got, the worse the damage seemed to be. First, we saw a lot of downed and destroyed signs. Then, we started seeing roofs partially destroyed. As we continued down the street, the partial damage turned into entire roofs covered by makeshift tarps. Eventually we turned into Kissimmee and headed to the old downtown area. Our mouths dropped open in horror as we saw boarded up stores and severely damaged buildings, many of which did not appear to be salvageable. The people still had a sense of humor; the old movie theater marquee proclaimed: "Now Playing: Gone With the Wind."
We went a little farther before finally turning around to head back home, and we saw homes that didn't appear to have their power back yet. Roofs and porches were destroyed and trees had toppled over onto buildings, where they still remained.
If someone had bet me last year that we would see a hurricane of this magnitude before we had even owned our home for a year, I would have taken them up on it. Now, I know just how vicious the storms can be, even this far inland. I'm just thanking God that we got off so easy. I wish we could be in town full-time to help with all the volunteer efforts that have sprung up in Celebration to help neighbors in other towns. At least we were able to help by sending donations. If you want to help a great cause, consider making a donation to "Give Kids the World" by clicking here. This resort, which helps grant the wishes of terminally ill children who want to visit Disney World, sustained heavy damage in the hurricane. They can use any assistance to get up and fully running again.
While we were driving home from our Field Trip of Horrors, the skies opened for a typical Florida summer monsoon. I still haven't gotten used to driving 90 percent blind in a solid wall of rain, but this time it wasn't so bad because traffic was barely moving. A combination of the storm and construction had slowed things down to a crawl, so I just stayed in the far right lane and focused on the taillights in front of me until the storm finally let up.
When we finally made it back to Celebration, we discovered that the accompanying wind had toppled many of the trees that had been righted so meticulously. Many were blocking the roads, including the one in front of our house. I am attached to our little tree, that has graced the front of our house ever since it was built, but I'm afraid that this second shock might have been too much for it. My husband and I managed to get it upright, but unfortunately it wouldn't stay in position. Finally we just gave up and moved it out of the street, lying it carefully in the grass.
Originally there was an outing planning for the night of Aug. 21, but Charley has disrupted the normal social flow of the town. Instead, my husband and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary by heading over to Disney World and dining at Jiko, one of my favorite Disney restaurants. There are two restaurants at the Animal Kingdom Lodge; Boma is a buffet, and Jiko is a very upscale sit-down eatery. I love the food, which has an African flair. I am in a rut and almost always order a selection of appetizers as my meal. My favorites are the beef rolls with banana sauce and the lamb rolls with mint sauce, although the tomato/cucumber salad with watermelon dressing is always a good, light option. After our meal, we traditionally walk out onto the savannah to see if any animals are around. On this night, we saw lots of hooved creatures, including giraffes, zebra, and wildebeests.
All in all, it was an excellent celebratory meal. Afterwards, we debated capping the night with a viewing of Fantasmic at Disney-MGM, Illuminations at Epcot, or the Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. But sloth won out, and we simply headed home to call it an early night. Now my husband is upstairs working, and I am downstairs blogging when I really should be working on my travel agency website. I have a part-time travel agent business that specializes in Disney cruises and Disney World/Orlando/Kissimmee vacations. You can view my business website at www.dclexpert.com. After almost 40 Disney cruises and too many trips to Disney World to count, I like to consider myself something of an expert.
It's been quite a year, but I can honestly say that no matter what, I've never once regretted our spontaneous decision to by a home in Celebration. Looking back, it's amazing to me that we made that decision with absolutely no pre-planning. No financial plan, no job plan...nothing more than love-at-first-site with a little town that we had just visited on a lark. Sounds crazy, I'll admit, but if it was some form of insanity, then neither my husband nor I have come to our senses yet.
I guess I do have one regret, and that is the fact that we are not in Celebration full time. Sure, we get home at least twice a month, but it's still not the same as having our primary roots in my beloved new hometown. My only wish as the day of our first anniversary draws to a close is that when we celebrate number two, we do it while living here full time.
You can visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. Email me with any questions or comments at celebration@mailblocks.com
Up north, the insurance companies fight to sell you a policy, but in the Land Of Hurricanes it can be a real challenge. Our problem was that we were honest about the fact that we'd be commuting back and forth from another home for a year or two. Once we revealed that, all of the companies wanted to classify us as a vacation rental, even though I'd rather walk over hot coals and broken glass barefoot, with bamboo shoots stuck under my fingernails and nails stuck in my nostrils, than rent out my home to hordes of destructive vacationers. That's not even allowed in Celebration; I know there are many other areas where people buy properties strictly to lease them out, but we bought our house to be our home. It makes no difference to us that we are stuck commuting 1500 miles every couple of weeks, but apparently it makes a lot of difference to insurers.
But we did finally find an insurer and get everything else sorted out. It all came together on August 21, 2004, and we became the proud owners of our modest but beloved Celebration home. And now, one year later, it had survived the seasonal onslaught of love bugs, nearly catching on fire from a screwed up connection at the electric meter, an endless parade of service personnel trying to fix our endlessly screwed up furniture, and, most frightening of all, the wrath of Hurricane Charley.
Celebration was actually spared the worst of Charley's fury. Sure, we lost a lot of trees, and many people had roof shingles and soffits blown off, but that's nothing compared to those who lost entire homes, and even their lives, in other parts of the state. As I type this blog entry, a news scroll on Fox 35 says that the hurricane's death toll has risen to 25.
When my husband and I landed at Orlando International Airport Friday night, we were stunned to see most of the ceiling tile missing in the A terminal. The seating areas were all roped off, and we could see that the repair effort is going to be massive.
We haven't bought a car in Florida yet, so we rent one while we are home. At Avis, there was a severe car shortage caused by the fact that many people who couldn't get flights last week simply drove their rentals home. That is compounded by the gasoline shortage in some areas. People can't find a station to fill up their car before returning it, so the onsite rental companies have to take them to be gassed up before they can go back out. Even though there was no line at the counter, we waited in the garage half an hour for a car to be brought from the gassing/servicing area.
By the time our car showed up and we got on the road, the witching hour had arrived and it was now officially our anniversary day. As we drove on 417 towards Celebration, we could see some of the tree damage even in the dark. It was more apparent when we arrived in town, although many of the fallen trees had been righted and propped up with stakes. I was heartbroken when we arrived at the street by our alley, where the new condominiums are being built. There was a park across the street from the condos, shaded with a canopy of green from many old, original trees that had been saved during the development process. Now, most of them had tumbled like a child's toys.
The next day we went biking around town, and we were amazed at the number of felled trees through every village. It wasn't just the small, recently planted trees that hadn't had a chance to root deeply yet. Many of the older giants had been pushed over or even snapped off like toothpicks. Later, we went driving down Celebration Boulevard toward World Drive, and the palm trees lining both sides of the street had tumbled quite literally like dominoes.
During our bike trip, we stopped downtown to enjoy some iced coffee from Barnies, and we decided to grab a quick lunch at Market Street Cafe. It wasn't too busy, but some sort of silent signal must have gone out over the airwaves. As we approached, so did literally five or six other groups of people. Four of them walked in literally right in front of us, and the rest behind. It was funny to see so many people apparently get the urge to eat at the cafe right at the same time. My husband had a hankering for a burger, but one of the daily specials tempted him away. It was spinach and mushroom quesadillas, and I'd admit they were wonderful! They tasted almost like spinach dip served up on flour tortillas. But I didn't suffer too badly with my usual chili cheese nachos.
For dessert, we headed over to the grand opening of Cold Stone Creamery at at the new Water Tower Place shopping center. They had passed out free coupons to Celebration residents, but we decided to save that until later. The store had pledged its first day profits to Give Kids the World, so we figured it would be best to pay cash (a free coupon is zero percent profit!). Cold Stone takes their home made ice cream and mixes in your selection of an array of delicious accompaniments, like candy, nuts, fruit, and/or marshmallows. Mmmmmmm!
Then, we took a drive down 192 to the old section of Kissimmee to see for ourselves all the destruction we'd heard about. The farther away from Celebration we got, the worse the damage seemed to be. First, we saw a lot of downed and destroyed signs. Then, we started seeing roofs partially destroyed. As we continued down the street, the partial damage turned into entire roofs covered by makeshift tarps. Eventually we turned into Kissimmee and headed to the old downtown area. Our mouths dropped open in horror as we saw boarded up stores and severely damaged buildings, many of which did not appear to be salvageable. The people still had a sense of humor; the old movie theater marquee proclaimed: "Now Playing: Gone With the Wind."
We went a little farther before finally turning around to head back home, and we saw homes that didn't appear to have their power back yet. Roofs and porches were destroyed and trees had toppled over onto buildings, where they still remained.
If someone had bet me last year that we would see a hurricane of this magnitude before we had even owned our home for a year, I would have taken them up on it. Now, I know just how vicious the storms can be, even this far inland. I'm just thanking God that we got off so easy. I wish we could be in town full-time to help with all the volunteer efforts that have sprung up in Celebration to help neighbors in other towns. At least we were able to help by sending donations. If you want to help a great cause, consider making a donation to "Give Kids the World" by clicking here. This resort, which helps grant the wishes of terminally ill children who want to visit Disney World, sustained heavy damage in the hurricane. They can use any assistance to get up and fully running again.
While we were driving home from our Field Trip of Horrors, the skies opened for a typical Florida summer monsoon. I still haven't gotten used to driving 90 percent blind in a solid wall of rain, but this time it wasn't so bad because traffic was barely moving. A combination of the storm and construction had slowed things down to a crawl, so I just stayed in the far right lane and focused on the taillights in front of me until the storm finally let up.
When we finally made it back to Celebration, we discovered that the accompanying wind had toppled many of the trees that had been righted so meticulously. Many were blocking the roads, including the one in front of our house. I am attached to our little tree, that has graced the front of our house ever since it was built, but I'm afraid that this second shock might have been too much for it. My husband and I managed to get it upright, but unfortunately it wouldn't stay in position. Finally we just gave up and moved it out of the street, lying it carefully in the grass.
Originally there was an outing planning for the night of Aug. 21, but Charley has disrupted the normal social flow of the town. Instead, my husband and I decided to celebrate our first anniversary by heading over to Disney World and dining at Jiko, one of my favorite Disney restaurants. There are two restaurants at the Animal Kingdom Lodge; Boma is a buffet, and Jiko is a very upscale sit-down eatery. I love the food, which has an African flair. I am in a rut and almost always order a selection of appetizers as my meal. My favorites are the beef rolls with banana sauce and the lamb rolls with mint sauce, although the tomato/cucumber salad with watermelon dressing is always a good, light option. After our meal, we traditionally walk out onto the savannah to see if any animals are around. On this night, we saw lots of hooved creatures, including giraffes, zebra, and wildebeests.
All in all, it was an excellent celebratory meal. Afterwards, we debated capping the night with a viewing of Fantasmic at Disney-MGM, Illuminations at Epcot, or the Wishes fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. But sloth won out, and we simply headed home to call it an early night. Now my husband is upstairs working, and I am downstairs blogging when I really should be working on my travel agency website. I have a part-time travel agent business that specializes in Disney cruises and Disney World/Orlando/Kissimmee vacations. You can view my business website at www.dclexpert.com. After almost 40 Disney cruises and too many trips to Disney World to count, I like to consider myself something of an expert.
It's been quite a year, but I can honestly say that no matter what, I've never once regretted our spontaneous decision to by a home in Celebration. Looking back, it's amazing to me that we made that decision with absolutely no pre-planning. No financial plan, no job plan...nothing more than love-at-first-site with a little town that we had just visited on a lark. Sounds crazy, I'll admit, but if it was some form of insanity, then neither my husband nor I have come to our senses yet.
I guess I do have one regret, and that is the fact that we are not in Celebration full time. Sure, we get home at least twice a month, but it's still not the same as having our primary roots in my beloved new hometown. My only wish as the day of our first anniversary draws to a close is that when we celebrate number two, we do it while living here full time.
You can visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com. Email me with any questions or comments at celebration@mailblocks.com
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Virtual Storm Postscript
As the day after Hurricane Charley draws to a close, so does our personal experience with the "virtual storm." When I first started this blog, the idea of a hurricane actually hitting my house was the farthest thing from my mind. I figured I would use it to capture a snapshot of everyday life and to hopefully dispel some of the persistent rumors about my new hometown. Up until yesterday, that was true.
But now here I am, using my blog as a way to keep my worries at bay as much as possible and to record this experience while it's fresh in my mind. I know that the intensity of experiences fades over time. I hope I have captured enough of the flavor of what I am feeling now so that someday I can look back at these words and remember what my first hurricane was like.
Throughout the day, I've been in almost constant email and phone contact with our friends and neighbors in Celebration. In just a year, we've made so many good friends, and it makes me feel good to know we can all count on each other. Many people have helped me, and I have tried to do my part in spreading the word, too. One of my neighbors is a cruise director who is even farther from home than I am at the moment. She's off cruising around Alaska and getting her news from CNN, so I've been able to get in touch and let her know that her place is safe, too.
I know that the friendliness of our town is often the stuff of myths, and even ridicule, by those who live in other areas. We're seen as a Stepford-like land of eternal happiness and community spirit. Ridicule us if you will, but we really do have something special.
Right now in Celebration, there is a prevailing spirit of "Let's pull through this together," as people help their neighbors clean up, pass around photos and war stories, and look for ways to assist in the area beyond our town boundary, which were hit even harder than we were.
As I've mentioned in other posts, our community intranet is called "The Front Porch," and that is exactly what it acts as. Most of the time, it's full of light banter, news items, complaints about typical issues like dog poop, and debates that sometimes turn quite heated. Even though you are not anonymous on the Front Porch, people still say things that their keyboards that I don't think they'd ever come out with face to face.
But at a time like this, it's also full of news and information. People looking for help link up with people willing to give it. People share what they can, whether it be photos, damage reports, referrals, information, and help with repairs. Someone has even started a thread to organize a community picnic as a way of saying "thanks" to all the service personnel who have been working so hard to help us.
Davy, the town's landscaping service, has been working long hours to handle the downed trees and get the roads cleared. The people at our Town Hall have been on duty to answer inquiries and coordinate clean-up and repair efforts. I called them to find out about soffit repair, and they returned my call with amazing speed. I would definitely say that thanks are in order; it's great to see how quickly people mobilize when disaster strikes.
Before this experience, I always thought of hurricanes as thunderstorms on steroids, but now I have learned a new respect for their strength and fury. I never thought one could cause so much damage inland, but seeing the photos of entire areas with their trees uprooted and tossed around like kindling has shown me just how mistaken I was. Outside of town, traffic signals are askew, hotel and store signs have been blown right off their poles, and shattered windows are boarded up. The damage seems like an eerie nightmare, but it's for real.
The hurricane followed an odd path, almost like a tornado. One side of 192 (the tourist strip) is relatively untouched, while the other side looks like the aftermath of war zone. I haven't seen it live yet, but so many peple have shared their graphic descriptions and photos that I almost feel like I have.
I've done a virtual "walk-through" of just about every area in town, from North Village all the way back to Artisan Park. Thanks to the many photographs, I have surveyed the fences that were dismantled like Tinker Toys by the vicious wind and marveled at the power of Mother Nature to topple huge trees as though they were matchsticks. Most of the pictures show the aftermath, but one of my neighbors also shared pictures of the actual storm, with winds bending a tree sideways! She is a brave soul...I would have been huddled in my powder room, which is the sturdiest and most sheltered room in my house. It's situated under the stairs like a "Harry Potter" room, so it offers a modicum of safety when storms threaten.
She also took a photo of the radar on the television screen showing the green swirl with its menacing red center positioning itself over the Orlando/Kissimmee area. I would never have thought to take that picture, but what a great idea...that is an image to save for posterity! If anyone ever questions the size and severity of the storm, seeing that red mass will remove all traces of doubt from their mind.
The power is still off in many areas; Celebration is very fortunate to have maintained electricity throughout the storm. There is a gas station and a couple of restaurants in our Water Tower Place shopping center that stand out like beacons among the darkened storefronts up and down the street. From what I've been hearing, people have been flocking to them likes moths to a lightbulb. With so many power lines downed, it's uncertain just how long it will be before people in neighboring communities are restored.
I have also heard that the airport had severe damage at three of its terminals. I hope that doesn't bode bad tidings for our flight home next Friday. Even though I've seen photographic evidence that our house is safe and have talked to people who have seen it, I can't help but worry. Our triplex may be modest, but it's still my dream home, and Celebration is more of a hometown to me than almost anyplace else I've ever lived. Logically I know that it's fine; the soffit damage is relatively minor, so barring any really bad wind and rain, it shouldn't sustain any further damage before we can get someone out to fix it. But I still won't feel completely at ease until I see it in person. Then I can breath a sigh of relief.
By the time I get home in a week, I suspect that the worst of the damage will be under control. There will be no way to completely restore all the trees that were destroyed, and some of the repair work is going to be going on for a while, but all in all life will be just about back to normal. But even if I didn't witness the worst of it firsthand, I know that I'll never forget all the photos and descriptions that I experienced at my keyboard.
For me, it was a "virtual storm," and I know that can't possibly compare to the experience of actually being in it, huddled somewhere in your home for shelter and fearing for your life. But even vicariously, it still an intense experience and one that I hope never to repeat. In my prayers tonight, just like last night, there will be a big "thank you" for sparing me and those I care about from the worst of it.
If you have any questions or comments about Celebration, feel free to email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com
But now here I am, using my blog as a way to keep my worries at bay as much as possible and to record this experience while it's fresh in my mind. I know that the intensity of experiences fades over time. I hope I have captured enough of the flavor of what I am feeling now so that someday I can look back at these words and remember what my first hurricane was like.
Throughout the day, I've been in almost constant email and phone contact with our friends and neighbors in Celebration. In just a year, we've made so many good friends, and it makes me feel good to know we can all count on each other. Many people have helped me, and I have tried to do my part in spreading the word, too. One of my neighbors is a cruise director who is even farther from home than I am at the moment. She's off cruising around Alaska and getting her news from CNN, so I've been able to get in touch and let her know that her place is safe, too.
I know that the friendliness of our town is often the stuff of myths, and even ridicule, by those who live in other areas. We're seen as a Stepford-like land of eternal happiness and community spirit. Ridicule us if you will, but we really do have something special.
Right now in Celebration, there is a prevailing spirit of "Let's pull through this together," as people help their neighbors clean up, pass around photos and war stories, and look for ways to assist in the area beyond our town boundary, which were hit even harder than we were.
As I've mentioned in other posts, our community intranet is called "The Front Porch," and that is exactly what it acts as. Most of the time, it's full of light banter, news items, complaints about typical issues like dog poop, and debates that sometimes turn quite heated. Even though you are not anonymous on the Front Porch, people still say things that their keyboards that I don't think they'd ever come out with face to face.
But at a time like this, it's also full of news and information. People looking for help link up with people willing to give it. People share what they can, whether it be photos, damage reports, referrals, information, and help with repairs. Someone has even started a thread to organize a community picnic as a way of saying "thanks" to all the service personnel who have been working so hard to help us.
Davy, the town's landscaping service, has been working long hours to handle the downed trees and get the roads cleared. The people at our Town Hall have been on duty to answer inquiries and coordinate clean-up and repair efforts. I called them to find out about soffit repair, and they returned my call with amazing speed. I would definitely say that thanks are in order; it's great to see how quickly people mobilize when disaster strikes.
Before this experience, I always thought of hurricanes as thunderstorms on steroids, but now I have learned a new respect for their strength and fury. I never thought one could cause so much damage inland, but seeing the photos of entire areas with their trees uprooted and tossed around like kindling has shown me just how mistaken I was. Outside of town, traffic signals are askew, hotel and store signs have been blown right off their poles, and shattered windows are boarded up. The damage seems like an eerie nightmare, but it's for real.
The hurricane followed an odd path, almost like a tornado. One side of 192 (the tourist strip) is relatively untouched, while the other side looks like the aftermath of war zone. I haven't seen it live yet, but so many peple have shared their graphic descriptions and photos that I almost feel like I have.
I've done a virtual "walk-through" of just about every area in town, from North Village all the way back to Artisan Park. Thanks to the many photographs, I have surveyed the fences that were dismantled like Tinker Toys by the vicious wind and marveled at the power of Mother Nature to topple huge trees as though they were matchsticks. Most of the pictures show the aftermath, but one of my neighbors also shared pictures of the actual storm, with winds bending a tree sideways! She is a brave soul...I would have been huddled in my powder room, which is the sturdiest and most sheltered room in my house. It's situated under the stairs like a "Harry Potter" room, so it offers a modicum of safety when storms threaten.
She also took a photo of the radar on the television screen showing the green swirl with its menacing red center positioning itself over the Orlando/Kissimmee area. I would never have thought to take that picture, but what a great idea...that is an image to save for posterity! If anyone ever questions the size and severity of the storm, seeing that red mass will remove all traces of doubt from their mind.
The power is still off in many areas; Celebration is very fortunate to have maintained electricity throughout the storm. There is a gas station and a couple of restaurants in our Water Tower Place shopping center that stand out like beacons among the darkened storefronts up and down the street. From what I've been hearing, people have been flocking to them likes moths to a lightbulb. With so many power lines downed, it's uncertain just how long it will be before people in neighboring communities are restored.
I have also heard that the airport had severe damage at three of its terminals. I hope that doesn't bode bad tidings for our flight home next Friday. Even though I've seen photographic evidence that our house is safe and have talked to people who have seen it, I can't help but worry. Our triplex may be modest, but it's still my dream home, and Celebration is more of a hometown to me than almost anyplace else I've ever lived. Logically I know that it's fine; the soffit damage is relatively minor, so barring any really bad wind and rain, it shouldn't sustain any further damage before we can get someone out to fix it. But I still won't feel completely at ease until I see it in person. Then I can breath a sigh of relief.
By the time I get home in a week, I suspect that the worst of the damage will be under control. There will be no way to completely restore all the trees that were destroyed, and some of the repair work is going to be going on for a while, but all in all life will be just about back to normal. But even if I didn't witness the worst of it firsthand, I know that I'll never forget all the photos and descriptions that I experienced at my keyboard.
For me, it was a "virtual storm," and I know that can't possibly compare to the experience of actually being in it, huddled somewhere in your home for shelter and fearing for your life. But even vicariously, it still an intense experience and one that I hope never to repeat. In my prayers tonight, just like last night, there will be a big "thank you" for sparing me and those I care about from the worst of it.
If you have any questions or comments about Celebration, feel free to email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com
Aftermath
It's the morning after Charley hit Celebration, and although I'm still 1500 miles away, it's not hard to learn about the aftermath. The community intranet is buzzing with war atories, as Celebration residents discuss the loss of trees, roof shingles, and even chunks of their houses.
My next door neighbor took in my flag, but it turns out our care taker didn't bring in the swing. Thank goodness the winds mainly hit from the back; they still caused damage, but nothing major like a window break or damage to the porch rails caused by a wildly flailing swing.
My little backyard took a nasty hit (I have decorations like wind chimes and solar lanterns back there), and the soffits sustained quite a bit of damage. The tree fell on a neighbor's car, but thankfully the little park across the street from us did not have any large trees. There is a nearby park-like area with some big ones, and apparently it took a very bad hit. Such a shame...one of the things I love about Celebration is how the woodsy areas and little parks are blended throughout the community, and in many cases beautiful old trees were saved. But you can't argue with gale-force winds.
You can see our damage by clicking here (will open in a separate window, so you'll need to disable your pop-up blocker if you have one), thanks to my neighbor who sent these photos. We have received photos from three of our friends, and it really eased my mind to see things firsthad; even though there is damage, it's relatively minor and should all be easily repairable.
You can also see some photos of damage throughout town on Tom's website by clicking here (will open in a separate window). Yesterday I was watching the winds buffet the downtown on the webcam, and his photos show the results.
But although we withstood some damage, we are actually the lucky ones. Celebration was very, very blessed. We can look in awe at the trees and branches blocking the roads and the chunks of roof and house debris that were torn off our dwellings, but we are safe, and the material things can be fixed and replaced.
Charley continued on to South Carolina, and on its way, it killed what the news is calling "a significant number" of people in a trailer park before crossing the state line. That's a sanitized way of saying that the storm brutally ripped the fabric of people's lives by mowing down their loved ones, and that fabric might be patched but it can never be fully repaired. I'm sure they were going about their everyday lives just days ago, maybe knowing that there was a chance that a storm would hit them, and maybe tear up their home, but never believing that they could wind up dead. Right now, the death toll in FL is being reported at around 15.
Although it pales in comparison to the human toll, the storm knocked out power to 1.3 million homes in Florida, and the cost of the damage is already estimated to be in the billions. Celebration still has power, but most of the surrounding area does not. Kissimmee and St. Cloud really got battered.
I can't even imagine the traffic jams and confusion between the downed power lines and traffic signals that are out, with wires and trees littering the roads and flooded areas blocking them even further.
Amazingly, all but one of the Disney World parks are open, although some of the rides are not running. The Animal Kingdom is, of course, the park that remains closed. It is such a lush, beautifully landscaped park. I can't even imagine what the winds did to the trees and how much clean-up they're going to have to do. And worse yet, I can't imagine the hordes of driving tourists adding to the traffic that is already snarled by blockages and non-functioning traffic lights.
One heartening thing in the light of all the devistation is the spirit of neighborliness that emerges. Throughout Celebration, people are banding together to help each other out, and many are volunteering to assist others in the surrounding communities. We are a close-knit community, both in good times and in bad. It's going to be a long, difficult clean-up, but the spirit of helping others will make it a little bit easier. The community intranet is full of people thanking their neighbors for helping out, and I am thankful too. Being 1500 miles away is driving me crazy with worry, but my mind is eased a little by knowing that my neighbors are keeping an eye on things and keeping me up to date.
Charley is the worst hurricane to hit Florida in over a decade; that's always a threat when you live in the Sunshine State. Florida is a paradise of warm winters and beautiful beachs, but it comes at a price. The threat stays in the back of your mind and usually doesn't emerge, especially when your home is as far inland as Celebration, but you never know when the next "big one" is going to descend quite literally out of the blue.
Feel free to email me with any questions or comments at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com
My next door neighbor took in my flag, but it turns out our care taker didn't bring in the swing. Thank goodness the winds mainly hit from the back; they still caused damage, but nothing major like a window break or damage to the porch rails caused by a wildly flailing swing.
My little backyard took a nasty hit (I have decorations like wind chimes and solar lanterns back there), and the soffits sustained quite a bit of damage. The tree fell on a neighbor's car, but thankfully the little park across the street from us did not have any large trees. There is a nearby park-like area with some big ones, and apparently it took a very bad hit. Such a shame...one of the things I love about Celebration is how the woodsy areas and little parks are blended throughout the community, and in many cases beautiful old trees were saved. But you can't argue with gale-force winds.
You can see our damage by clicking here (will open in a separate window, so you'll need to disable your pop-up blocker if you have one), thanks to my neighbor who sent these photos. We have received photos from three of our friends, and it really eased my mind to see things firsthad; even though there is damage, it's relatively minor and should all be easily repairable.
You can also see some photos of damage throughout town on Tom's website by clicking here (will open in a separate window). Yesterday I was watching the winds buffet the downtown on the webcam, and his photos show the results.
But although we withstood some damage, we are actually the lucky ones. Celebration was very, very blessed. We can look in awe at the trees and branches blocking the roads and the chunks of roof and house debris that were torn off our dwellings, but we are safe, and the material things can be fixed and replaced.
Charley continued on to South Carolina, and on its way, it killed what the news is calling "a significant number" of people in a trailer park before crossing the state line. That's a sanitized way of saying that the storm brutally ripped the fabric of people's lives by mowing down their loved ones, and that fabric might be patched but it can never be fully repaired. I'm sure they were going about their everyday lives just days ago, maybe knowing that there was a chance that a storm would hit them, and maybe tear up their home, but never believing that they could wind up dead. Right now, the death toll in FL is being reported at around 15.
Although it pales in comparison to the human toll, the storm knocked out power to 1.3 million homes in Florida, and the cost of the damage is already estimated to be in the billions. Celebration still has power, but most of the surrounding area does not. Kissimmee and St. Cloud really got battered.
I can't even imagine the traffic jams and confusion between the downed power lines and traffic signals that are out, with wires and trees littering the roads and flooded areas blocking them even further.
Amazingly, all but one of the Disney World parks are open, although some of the rides are not running. The Animal Kingdom is, of course, the park that remains closed. It is such a lush, beautifully landscaped park. I can't even imagine what the winds did to the trees and how much clean-up they're going to have to do. And worse yet, I can't imagine the hordes of driving tourists adding to the traffic that is already snarled by blockages and non-functioning traffic lights.
One heartening thing in the light of all the devistation is the spirit of neighborliness that emerges. Throughout Celebration, people are banding together to help each other out, and many are volunteering to assist others in the surrounding communities. We are a close-knit community, both in good times and in bad. It's going to be a long, difficult clean-up, but the spirit of helping others will make it a little bit easier. The community intranet is full of people thanking their neighbors for helping out, and I am thankful too. Being 1500 miles away is driving me crazy with worry, but my mind is eased a little by knowing that my neighbors are keeping an eye on things and keeping me up to date.
Charley is the worst hurricane to hit Florida in over a decade; that's always a threat when you live in the Sunshine State. Florida is a paradise of warm winters and beautiful beachs, but it comes at a price. The threat stays in the back of your mind and usually doesn't emerge, especially when your home is as far inland as Celebration, but you never know when the next "big one" is going to descend quite literally out of the blue.
Feel free to email me with any questions or comments at celebration@mailblocks.com
For general information, visit my website at www.celebrationinfo.com
Friday, August 13, 2004
The Virtual Storm
In the almost-year since we purchased our home in Celebration, we've celebrated many firsts. Our first Founders Day, our first downtown paper "leaves" and soap-bubble snowfalls, our first live alligator sighting, our first Florida resident annual passes for Disney World...the list goes on and on. But one first I could do without, that came today with a vengence, was our first hurricane. And, as luck would have it, we ended up experiencing it long-distance, since we are stuck up north.
Actually, this year Florida experienced a rare one-two punch from back to back storms. The worst of Bonnie stayed away from Celebration, but her little brother Charley hit it head on.
We have been commuting back and forth from our old house to Celebration almost every week, and on the day of Charley's wrath we were scheduled to fly out at 7:10 p.m. When he had booked the plane tickets, my husband had joked, "We can't fly out on Friday the 13th!", and of course I had to mock him for being superstitious. Now, as the day approached, it looking like bad luck was going to descend on us in the form of driving rain and triple-digit wind speeds.
On Thursday night, I was already worried. I am a timid flyer at best, and the thought of landing in a hurricane had me wondering if it would be a good idea to somehow get bootleg Xanax and wash down with a few vodka chasers to dope myself into a stupor on the plane. A few months back, we had been flying back from Celebration to the midwest and were trying to beat a thunderstorm, but we didn't make it. The plane circled for a while, and then the pilot announced that we were running low on fuel so we were either going to divert or attempt to make a landing. A few minutes later, he got back on the PA and said that we were going to head down.
As we descended through the storm clouds, the plane rocked back and forth in a way that I'd never experienced before. I've been in turbulence where we've had some nasty drops, but never any rolling. I managed to keep my panic in check by chatting with the flight attendants, who were seated in jump seats across from us. One man across the aisle mentioned the movie "Final Destination." If you've never seen it and you're a timid flyer...DON'T. Early in the movie, there is a very graphic plane crash scene that takes my paranoid nightmares and brings them to life on the screen.
I was still maintaining a facade of calm, but one of the flight attendants suddenly said to the man next to Mr. Final Destination, "Are you okay?" The poor guy was white as a sheet! Apparently he had seen the movie, too, and was having flashbacks. The pilot had just cut back the engines in preparation for landing, and the poor guy blurted out, "It sounds like the engines stopped!" The flight attendant reassured him that everything was normal...or at least as normal as possible, considering that we were rocking side to side like a manic amusement park ride.
Landing safely on that night was one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm sure that we were never in any real danger; the pilots probably handle severe weather situations regularly. But for a paranoid person like me, it feels like a narrow escape from certain doom, and I'm sure the guy across the aisle felt the same.
At any rate, after that I certainly wasn't looking forward to landing in the midst of Hurricane Charley. I was counting on that fact that our flight would probably be cancelled. But my husband was praying that it wouldn't be; no matter what, he wanted to get home. He kept saying, "The storm should be over by 9 p.m. and we're scheduled to land after 10," overlooking the fact that even if the airport remained open, flight delays throughout the day would no doubt start a domino effect.
On Friday morning, my husband woke up early to do online check-in and grab our favorite exit row seats. "See!" he crowed triumphantly to me. "Our flight is still showing as 'on time.'" I was too sleepy to point out that it was only 6 a.m., and the airlines are notoriously slow about updating their websites.
All day Friday at work, I kept checking the news online. My co-workers, who knew my dilemma, clucked sympathetically at my husband's obsession and periodically emailed me links to the latest news items. The photos and news stories painted a grim picture of Charley's rampage across the state. I found myself uttering little prayers for the poor souls caught in the storm's path. I knew that things were probably going to get quite grim, as Disney World had announced that its theme parks would be shutting down at 1 p.m. Believe me, the Mouse is money-hungry and only shuts down in the most grave of circumstances. The Typhoon Lagoon water park and the Animal Kingdom didn't even open at all, and the campers in Fort Wilderness were relocated to hotels.
I grew up with regular tornado warnings throughout the spring and fall, and although I never experienced one firsthand, several have struck frighteningly close to home. I actually did see a tornado once, but thankfully it was up in the sky and didn't touch down. But hurricanes are more frightening because they move so slowly. At least with a tornado, if you get hit, it comes through and is gone in a matter of minutes. A hurricane unleashes its 100+ mile an hour winds and torrential rain for what has to feel like an eternity. And worse yet, a hurricane can spawn tornados on the poor victims who have suffered enoug already.
By 3 p.m., I checked the airline website, and it finally announced that all flights into Orlando International Airport had been cancelled for the rest of the day. This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say I was glad not to be going to Florida. But I couldn't help but worry about all of our friends who were sitting ducks in Charley's path. Here I was, safe and sound 1500 miles away, and they were facing the onslaught of a vicious storm.
I knew that our house would be fine, as I had contacted our house cleaning service to make sure they took in anything that might go blowing around the neighborhood Wizard-Of-Oz-style. I didn't want my porch swing to crash through my living room window or my trash can to pay a visit to neighbors across the alley, or maybe even a street or two over. But houses can be replaced, whereas people cannot, and I prayed that everyone in town would remain safe. In my earliest research on Celebration, I had read about the construction issues with the original homes, and I wondered how that might affect their soundness when confronted with Mother Nature's fury.
When I got home and logged on to the internet, I discovered that I wasn't so cut off from Celebration after all. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I could experience a virtual storm right from my keyboard. Of course, I could log onto weather sites and see radar, and even generic photos and film clips. But better yet, between email and the Front Porch intranet, I could get firsthand reports almost right as they happened. I could "hear" how my beloved town was coping, and I could even watch the storm (at least in the downtown area) via the Celebration Hotel's web cam.
(Note: If you'd like a quick glimpse of Celebration right now, click this link: http://www3.weatherview.com/cams/control.html?pset=orl001&aff=cams)
My husband stayed glued to the Weather Channel, while I toggled between email and the Front Porch to experience the virtual storm via live updates from Celebration residents. Thankfully, as I write this blog entry, Charley has pretty much passed through the town, and most of the reports are centered on downed trees, missing roof shingles, and leaks in roofs and around windows. No injuries, thank God...just a lot of clean-up. Our house is right across the alley from a construction zone, so I wonder how it fared in the midst of wind gusts that were probably close to 80 m.p.h., if not more.
If all goes well, we will be home next week and can see for ourselves firsthand. By then, I imagine that things will be mostly cleaned up and life will be proceeding as normal. I'm just happy that no one was hurt, and the property damage sounds relatively minor.
People think of hurricanes as sticking to coastal areas, and that is usually true. By the time they reach an area as far inland as Celebration, they've lost most of their power. But Charley proves that even Fantasyland is not immune to Mother Nature, and every now and then she unleashes her fury just to remind us who's really in charge.
My virtual storm watch is over, and although Celebration got off relatively easy, there were many poor souls who did not. I am keeping them in my prayers, as well as the others who are still in the storm's path. Florida may seem like paradise, but it's not without its dangers, as Charley just reminded everyone in a very graphic way.
If you have any comments about my blog or questions about Celebration, please feel free to email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For lots of information about my hometown, visit www.celebrationinfo.com
Actually, this year Florida experienced a rare one-two punch from back to back storms. The worst of Bonnie stayed away from Celebration, but her little brother Charley hit it head on.
We have been commuting back and forth from our old house to Celebration almost every week, and on the day of Charley's wrath we were scheduled to fly out at 7:10 p.m. When he had booked the plane tickets, my husband had joked, "We can't fly out on Friday the 13th!", and of course I had to mock him for being superstitious. Now, as the day approached, it looking like bad luck was going to descend on us in the form of driving rain and triple-digit wind speeds.
On Thursday night, I was already worried. I am a timid flyer at best, and the thought of landing in a hurricane had me wondering if it would be a good idea to somehow get bootleg Xanax and wash down with a few vodka chasers to dope myself into a stupor on the plane. A few months back, we had been flying back from Celebration to the midwest and were trying to beat a thunderstorm, but we didn't make it. The plane circled for a while, and then the pilot announced that we were running low on fuel so we were either going to divert or attempt to make a landing. A few minutes later, he got back on the PA and said that we were going to head down.
As we descended through the storm clouds, the plane rocked back and forth in a way that I'd never experienced before. I've been in turbulence where we've had some nasty drops, but never any rolling. I managed to keep my panic in check by chatting with the flight attendants, who were seated in jump seats across from us. One man across the aisle mentioned the movie "Final Destination." If you've never seen it and you're a timid flyer...DON'T. Early in the movie, there is a very graphic plane crash scene that takes my paranoid nightmares and brings them to life on the screen.
I was still maintaining a facade of calm, but one of the flight attendants suddenly said to the man next to Mr. Final Destination, "Are you okay?" The poor guy was white as a sheet! Apparently he had seen the movie, too, and was having flashbacks. The pilot had just cut back the engines in preparation for landing, and the poor guy blurted out, "It sounds like the engines stopped!" The flight attendant reassured him that everything was normal...or at least as normal as possible, considering that we were rocking side to side like a manic amusement park ride.
Landing safely on that night was one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm sure that we were never in any real danger; the pilots probably handle severe weather situations regularly. But for a paranoid person like me, it feels like a narrow escape from certain doom, and I'm sure the guy across the aisle felt the same.
At any rate, after that I certainly wasn't looking forward to landing in the midst of Hurricane Charley. I was counting on that fact that our flight would probably be cancelled. But my husband was praying that it wouldn't be; no matter what, he wanted to get home. He kept saying, "The storm should be over by 9 p.m. and we're scheduled to land after 10," overlooking the fact that even if the airport remained open, flight delays throughout the day would no doubt start a domino effect.
On Friday morning, my husband woke up early to do online check-in and grab our favorite exit row seats. "See!" he crowed triumphantly to me. "Our flight is still showing as 'on time.'" I was too sleepy to point out that it was only 6 a.m., and the airlines are notoriously slow about updating their websites.
All day Friday at work, I kept checking the news online. My co-workers, who knew my dilemma, clucked sympathetically at my husband's obsession and periodically emailed me links to the latest news items. The photos and news stories painted a grim picture of Charley's rampage across the state. I found myself uttering little prayers for the poor souls caught in the storm's path. I knew that things were probably going to get quite grim, as Disney World had announced that its theme parks would be shutting down at 1 p.m. Believe me, the Mouse is money-hungry and only shuts down in the most grave of circumstances. The Typhoon Lagoon water park and the Animal Kingdom didn't even open at all, and the campers in Fort Wilderness were relocated to hotels.
I grew up with regular tornado warnings throughout the spring and fall, and although I never experienced one firsthand, several have struck frighteningly close to home. I actually did see a tornado once, but thankfully it was up in the sky and didn't touch down. But hurricanes are more frightening because they move so slowly. At least with a tornado, if you get hit, it comes through and is gone in a matter of minutes. A hurricane unleashes its 100+ mile an hour winds and torrential rain for what has to feel like an eternity. And worse yet, a hurricane can spawn tornados on the poor victims who have suffered enoug already.
By 3 p.m., I checked the airline website, and it finally announced that all flights into Orlando International Airport had been cancelled for the rest of the day. This is the first time in my life that I can honestly say I was glad not to be going to Florida. But I couldn't help but worry about all of our friends who were sitting ducks in Charley's path. Here I was, safe and sound 1500 miles away, and they were facing the onslaught of a vicious storm.
I knew that our house would be fine, as I had contacted our house cleaning service to make sure they took in anything that might go blowing around the neighborhood Wizard-Of-Oz-style. I didn't want my porch swing to crash through my living room window or my trash can to pay a visit to neighbors across the alley, or maybe even a street or two over. But houses can be replaced, whereas people cannot, and I prayed that everyone in town would remain safe. In my earliest research on Celebration, I had read about the construction issues with the original homes, and I wondered how that might affect their soundness when confronted with Mother Nature's fury.
When I got home and logged on to the internet, I discovered that I wasn't so cut off from Celebration after all. Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I could experience a virtual storm right from my keyboard. Of course, I could log onto weather sites and see radar, and even generic photos and film clips. But better yet, between email and the Front Porch intranet, I could get firsthand reports almost right as they happened. I could "hear" how my beloved town was coping, and I could even watch the storm (at least in the downtown area) via the Celebration Hotel's web cam.
(Note: If you'd like a quick glimpse of Celebration right now, click this link: http://www3.weatherview.com/cams/control.html?pset=orl001&aff=cams)
My husband stayed glued to the Weather Channel, while I toggled between email and the Front Porch to experience the virtual storm via live updates from Celebration residents. Thankfully, as I write this blog entry, Charley has pretty much passed through the town, and most of the reports are centered on downed trees, missing roof shingles, and leaks in roofs and around windows. No injuries, thank God...just a lot of clean-up. Our house is right across the alley from a construction zone, so I wonder how it fared in the midst of wind gusts that were probably close to 80 m.p.h., if not more.
If all goes well, we will be home next week and can see for ourselves firsthand. By then, I imagine that things will be mostly cleaned up and life will be proceeding as normal. I'm just happy that no one was hurt, and the property damage sounds relatively minor.
People think of hurricanes as sticking to coastal areas, and that is usually true. By the time they reach an area as far inland as Celebration, they've lost most of their power. But Charley proves that even Fantasyland is not immune to Mother Nature, and every now and then she unleashes her fury just to remind us who's really in charge.
My virtual storm watch is over, and although Celebration got off relatively easy, there were many poor souls who did not. I am keeping them in my prayers, as well as the others who are still in the storm's path. Florida may seem like paradise, but it's not without its dangers, as Charley just reminded everyone in a very graphic way.
If you have any comments about my blog or questions about Celebration, please feel free to email me at celebration@mailblocks.com
For lots of information about my hometown, visit www.celebrationinfo.com
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