Musings & Thoughts for Thursday, August 31, 2023, or: First Stress, Then Euphoria…Idalia’s Passing Screws Up My Sleeping Cycle

Late Morning, Thursday, August 31, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, there, folks.

Well, here we are – it’s the last day of August and the last day of meteorological summer – on another torrid Thursday in the Tampa Bay area. As I write this, the temperature is 83°F/29°C under mostly cloudy skies. However, with humidity at a sticky 82% and the wind blowing from the east-southeast at 5 MPH/8 KMH, the feels-like temperature is 92°F/34°C. Today’s forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies and a high of 89°F/31°C.

Idalia’s Aftermath: Stress, Followed by Euphoria – A Recipe for Insomnia

Even though Idalia is now a tropical storm and far, far away from Florida, I am still feeling the effects of both pre-hurricane anxiety and post-hurricane euphoria. I am not, either by nature or nurture, particularly calm whenever a hurricane is anywhere close to where I live, so even though I can, at age 60, act cool and collected, I tend to stress over where the hurricane is headed, how badly will it affect our area, and if the power goes out, how long will we have to cope without air conditioning, TV, or Internet service. I also worry that one or more of my friends will be injured or even killed by the effects of a storm or be rendered homeless – either temporarily or permanently.

To keep the peace and not be annoying, I internalize these nagging questions, even though they are somewhat justified. And, for the most part, I do manage to keep up the appearance that I’m not unduly concerned about an approaching tropical cyclone.

With Idalia, I was confident that the hurricane would stick to the National Hurricane Center’s forecast track, so this time around I was much calmer than I usually am in this type of situation. However, there was always a small chance that the storm would defy the meteorological estimates and pull what I call a “reverse David.”

The “Reverse David” Scenario

A “reverse David” refers to a 1979 near-miss when Hurricane David (August 25-September 8) seemed hellbent on striking directly at South Florida, particularly what was then called “Dade County.” David was the first major hurricane that threatened to hit the Miami area after we moved from Westchester to the Fountainbleau Park area one year earlier, and Mom wasn’t confident that our townhouse would stand the pounding. So we accepted an invitation from our former neighbors, Norberto and Carmelita, to stay at their house in our old neighborhood; their house had been built in 1963 and had withstood the effects of Hurricane Betsy 14 years earlier, so…..

To make a long story short, we stayed up all night – Mom, Norberto, and Carmelita drank booze to cope with the stress, while I watched live coverage of the impending approach of Hurricane David, which was my first real experience with hurricanes at my “age of reasoning.” With all that stress pumping adrenaline into my system, I stayed up till 5 AM on that September day (I don’t remember which day it was, but it was probably September 1 or so), then managed to doze off till 6:15 AM.

Then, Miami caught a lucky break. At 6:30 AM or so, Bob Weaver (“Weaver the Weatherman”) of what was then WTVJ-Channel 4, the local CBS affiliate station, came on the TV to show us weary and anxious viewers that the hurricane was turning to the right – i.e., changing course from almost due northwest to first the north-northwest, then taking a more northward track – mere hours before making landfall near Miami.

A ”reverse David” would have entailed Idalia suddenly turning right while it was still to the south-southwest of the Tampa Bay area (TBA), then barreling in our direction as if it were an iron filing drawn to a magnet. I didn’t seriously consider the possibility because when I fell asleep on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, the storm was already almost parallel to the TBA and still heading north. But part of my subconscious did momentarily fret over this.  

I tend to destress at an agonizingly slow pace, especially if I’m already worried about other stuff, such as my progress with my novel or my uncertain future. And stress usually makes me tired and cranky.

Add to that the euphoria over the fact that Idalia did not hit near here and is now over the Atlantic again as a tropical storm, and I have a recipe for sleep disorders galore. Last night I could not go to sleep, so I stayed on my computer till almost 2 AM and had to watch – with my TV at the lowest volume setting and with the subtitles turned on – Episode Six of The Vietnam War till I finally got drowsy at 3:30 AM or so.

Action This Day, or: To Write or Not to Write

Since today is Thursday, I am supposed to work on the manuscript for Reunion: Coda. That is still my intention; I don’t like changing my writing routine under normal circumstances, and I do want to finish the novel in time for a Holiday Season 2023 publication.

However, since I woke up at 7:30 AM after a rather sleepless night, I’m not exactly at my physical best now. I’m sleepy, and my head hurts slightly – thank the Force for Tylenol! – and I’m still a bit foggy-brained despite having had two cups of coffee. I do want to write today – I’m doing it now, am I not? – and I sincerely hope that after my rest break, I will at least produce 250-500 “new words” by the end of the day. I might have to take a longer-than-average break, though. Otherwise, my efforts to write will be a case of “the mind was willing to lead, but the body was unwilling to follow.”

So, with that in mind, I’ll close for now so I can post this on WordPress and take that breather. Wish me luck, and until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.