Woman vs. Nature

"Rachel, you are not allowed to go anywhere with a volcano, or it will undoubtedly erupt."
-My father, on my luck with natural disasters.

I severely dislike hurricanes. This has got to stop. For a person who is never prepared for anything, natural disasters really screw with me. As always, I'm just thankful I have good friends who know what their doing.

Hurricane Irene wasn't nearly as bad as the earthquake in Christchurch but it was still miserable. We had our first hurricane scare a few weeks ago that turned out to be a light drizzle, but I was fully ready for it. Early on, Irene was only classed as a tropical storm so we were only half ready. By half ready I mean I bought a gallon of water, a pink Cinderella flashlight, bottle of champagne and foodstuffs necessary to make nachos. My new television show, Woman vs. Nature, will be coming out soon.

My friend/boss Val offered me and a few other friends a place to crash for a day or two, and seeing as how I had to get off the boat I went to her place in Luquillo. By the time the storm was over us it has turned into a full-blown, Class-3 hurricane. It poured nonstop for 2 solid days with winds blowing up to 75 miles per hour. I now understand why every house in Puerto Rico is made out of concrete. I also understand why all the water, canned food, candles and batteries were gone from the store. Really the hardest bit was waiting in an airless, concrete house with no running water or electricity and getting soaked when trying to open a door or window for some air for two days.

When we able to venture outside we found a 30 square foot piece of roof that wasn't ours in the backyard and what looked like a palm tree explosion in the front. From my other boss Juan we heard that he woke up to someone's TV satellite on top of his mini van, and our friend Aminda's windshield was smashed in by a tree. My car Maverick: The Beast was miraculously untouched and even started, although drenched with water. The boat, when were able to and check on her, is another story.

I have to say in all honesty that it has never really occured to me that there might be things in this world I couldn't do. If I learned and I tried hard I could achieve anything, and I've never questioned that until yesterday. Yet taking care of a sailboat during hurricane season in the Caribbean might be too much for me. I understand the fundamentals of sailing a boat, but the mechanics and electrics are way over my head. Not to mention the physical strength needed to tie lines and move the boat. For someone who is not used to asking for help, it's been really hard. When the boat to my port side snapped it's lines and rammed my boat repeatedly during the storm, I wasn't there. There was not much I could have done anyway but it's left me feeling helpless. Helpless like when my van Crazy Carl kept dying in New Zealand and there was nothing I could do. So I guess I'll take a deep breath and leave this to the professionals and insurance companies and take it day by day.

What the hurricane and earthquake ultimately taught me was that life doesn't care about your plans. You can be as prepared as possible, plan every detail down to the last minute, and an earthquake will still fuck up your day. Plan your day, plan your career, plan your future and life will go and do what it pleases anyway. Maybe it teaches us that life can end at any moment, and that is natural, so enjoy the sunshine. Maybe it teaches us that change is a positive force. For me, it reaffirms what I already know: Live one day at a time, love with a full heart and smile at what life throws my way.