Opinion, Out and About

Out and About

October 10, 2024 | Sandi Kemp

Hurricane Milton is a Category 5 as I write this, and it is heading toward Central Florida where I lived for the first 19 years of my life. I have a lot of good friends there that I have invited to come to Navarre, but they want to “hunker down.” Contrary to advice, I would do the same. It is difficult to get back and I know that firsthand. My husband was in Iraq or Afghanistan in September 2004 when Ivan was headed our way and by order of the Air Force, the families had to evacuate. I evacuated with our children to my parents’ home in Orlando, which had just been hit by Charlie the month before with 104 mph winds. They were still cleaning up and there was a lot less foliage than the last time I was there. After Ivan left, I called our Santa Rosa County Public Information Officer at the time, Don Chinery, and asked him when he thought schools would be back in session. He thought it would be months. I called my in-laws and asked if their grands could stay with them for a week or a few months – and they said sure. They met me near Atlanta, and I handed the children and a dog and a cat off to them. They were saints – and are angels in heaven today. I quickly headed back to Navarre and bought a cooler and started loading it with things to eat on the way back. I got back with little difficulty. The next day I went to the Emergency Operations Center in Milton and was asking where the water and supplies were for Navarre and was told it was too difficult to get there – true story. I promptly let them know I arrived from Atlanta the night before and was able to get to them that day…they could get there. And they did.

Hurricanes come with the territory when you live in Florida. However, I don’t know that we have had four hurricanes – and maybe a fifth – hit one area over and over again like the hurricanes that have been hitting Madison County and the big bend area. I have jokingly said, “Can someone please find Jonah and throw him overboard?” I have friends that live in that area, and one is a newspaper owner. She has three newspapers, and her business and home have been in various states of disrepair since Michael hit in 2018. Since then, three Hurricanes have hit them in a thirteen-month period. My friend Betsy in Orlando said it best when she texted me back today, “I think when the Bible talks about ‘nature groaning’…this is what it means!”

My family has, maybe had, a cabin near Lake Lure in N.C. and I’m not sure if it is still there or what state it is in. I’ve been watching all the videos on YouTube and seeing all the familiar places that I know from heart because I spent every summer there as a child and many times since. The last time we were there was in 2020. I’ve joined a private Facebook group and I’m hoping to have word on it at some point. I don’t want to ask because the residents there have enough to do than to check on a property that is only used a few weeks out of the year. Instead, we have been sending money to the helicopter pilots for fuel and others for supplies.

All that being said, and all the other things going on in the world, some could say everything is falling apart, but maybe, everything is falling together. I brought that up to a friend today and she said, she doesn’t know if it is all falling apart or coming together but it all seems connected. Only God knows, but I believe He has given us more than just clues. Just read Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah and Revelations in the Bible, or find You-Tube videos. I have been watching a lot of Jack Hibbs from Chino Hills, California. This is definitely not a time to be anxious – but a time to be courageous – and tough. I feel like everyone here on this earth was born for “such a time as this.” I’ve also heard that there is a new book by Kirk Cameron coming out called “Born to be Brave” that I’m going to check out.

Quote of the Week: “Storms make trees take deeper roots.” Dolly Parton, Actress, singer-songwriter, author, and philanthropist.

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