It’s gone!  It’s up east of Jacksonville late this afternoon.  And we got off easy.  We had a brief period of intense rain and wind last night, less than an hour, the wind sustained at maybe 45 mph, driving the rain sideways, but then mostly quiet all night.  At sunrise there were bands moving through, and the ocean was raging beautifully, but there was never any danger, even from surge.  It became tedious, especially after more than a week of anticipation, but when we were able to jettison that anxiety, it was quite beautiful.  We took several trips, in the times between rain bands, down to the dune line to just look.  The power, even from a storm that stayed about a hundred miles offshore, was riveting.  The photos don’t do it justice, and though I took many, I can’t include them here.  Words will have to suffice.  Having spent many, many hours out there in the last 25 years, in all kinds of conditions, (except these,) I can tell you that it’s way bigger than it looks.  Those are 12-15 ft waves, trough to crest.  That’s about twice floor to ceiling in your house.  Factor in the speed and weight of the water, and nothing on the surface could survive.  Something to consider.  Another of the many reasons why we are here.  We always have renewed, profound respect for the animals that do survive, and thrive, out there.  Talk about adaptation.

And speaking of animals, a couple of asides.  One species which has benefited from all this is our wet-month nemesis, the Cuban Tree Frog.  This little invasive-species rascal, (and we are not anti-immigration,) is a first-class nuisance. Barely four inches at full growth, they settle in the trees outside the house and croak, very loudly all night.  We have some who even situate behind an old round Coca-Cola thermometer out back, and rail from there.  We have sent them over the fence and back into the trees but they always return. They taunt us when it rains.  In some kind of cosmic justice, when returning from the beach a couple days ago I saw one in the jaws of one of our Indigo snakes.  It was going to be a serious effort for that snake to swallow that already bloated frog, but I bet on the snake.

And speaking of snakes, our second aside.  Last evening, before going to bed, we found a red rat snake squeezed between the window screen and a second outer screen of hardware cloth, a harder mesh, which I had placed some years before (to prevent a cat we had prior to Pekoe from escaping, which this guy, Cecil, was won’t to do.)  The space was maybe a half-inch wide, but there he was, coiled and unmoving, even with prodding.  It was storming, so I decided to attempt to free him in this morning.  We figured he was there to escape the rain, and yep, in the morning he was gone.  So far we haven’t found any in the house from this storm.  We love our snakes, but we draw the line at them being in the house.  Salamanders, yes.  They are well-read, and theologically sound.