Eagle-eyed followers will note that Keely’s Way did not post last Saturday. That would be because on Friday, three tornados along with 80mph winds ripped through Tallahassee (where I live) and basically destroyed large swaths of the city.
Tragically, one of the hardest hit areas was our small arts district, the historic Railroad Square. Local photographer Rewiski Phototgraphy captured some of the aftermath, which shows just how devastating it was.
About 400 utility poles were impacted, many of them completely knocked down, and it’s hard to overstate how massive the damage was from fallen trees.
Anyway, I was without power for only about 16 hours, but then came the familiar post-storm PTSD. I don’t know if it is a direct result of Charley in ‘04, or just the cumulative accretion of stress and anxiety that comes with living through multiple big storms since the 1980s, but it’s a real thing. I usually have about 48+ hours of disassociation/fugue state. I suspect that will be true for the rest of my life, and certainly for as long as I live in Florida. 😥
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Writing
Still dividing time between Dragon’s Grail and Transmigrated Teri. I’ve been occupied for the past few days (see “Sundries” below) so not much to update.
Keely & Co.
Since I’ve been out of town for a while now I don’t have anything to report on Keely, who is being looked after in my absence by our good neighbor Paul. But here is a throwback photo, one of my favorites!
Sundries
As I write this, I’m in Sarasota, Florida, reporting from the legendary Golden Host Motel Resort on Tamiami Drive! It is an old 1950s era motor lodge, which is well known to New College students for it’s lounge, the Bahi Hut Tiki Bar (which is as delightfully tacky as it sounds!).
This is a paid gig for me, as I’ll be wandering around interviewing alumnae for newsletter profiles. But, I also get to hang out at the resort and hopefully take a dip in the saltwater pool!
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