One could say a lot of bad things about living in Mexico (and I certainly have) but one thing for sure, it is never boring. We always have a little excitement. During the five years I have lived here, we have had a dozen hurricane warning, but usually nothing happened, but a little rain. So when I heard that a hurricane was due to hit us the following day, I thought nothing about it. The next morning, the warning were a little more dire. The airport and all businesses were advised to close. Not knowing that, I went off to the gym and found it closed. I also noticed that nothing else was open. On my way home, I did stop at my little tienda (that never closes) and picked up some stuff to make a few things to eat.
Hurricane Patricia was billed as the worst storm ever to hit the West Coast. They predicted winds over 200 miles per hour and said it would drop at least 20 inches of rain. Puerto Vallarta could be devastated as Cabo San Lucas was two years ago. Last year was the best "season" in at least five years. People who normally went to Cabo came here and no one goes to Acapulco anymore as it really is not safe. Everyone had great hopes for this season, then suddenly it could all end.
When I got back, I received word that the electricity and water would be shut off at 2:00 in the afternoon. It isn't supposed to hit until 5:00 or 6:00 so why 2:00. Also, I can understand the electricity because of downed power lines, but why water? It runs under the streets. I decided to make up some food and do a little laundry. I was waiting for the dryer to finish when suddenly it stopped. At first I thought the lights had been turned off early. No, the dryer just died! This was not a good day to hang out laundry to dry. Then my friend called and said to not only close and lock all window, but to cover them with blinds or drapes to prevent being hurt with flying glass from broken windows. I peaked out and saw windows covered with plywood or crossed with tape. Good God!!
I did pull in the furniture on my balcony, but nothing I could do about the furniture on the terrace. Also with 30 potted plants, all I could do was to try to position them so the wind would do the least damage. I added more boulders to some of the taller plants. I have nine palms and one rises three feet over an eight foot wall. I took the plates and hanging ceramic stuff off the wall on the terrace. I also put out a bucket to catch the rain water. I have plenty of drinking water, but I wanted plenty of water to flush the toilets. Luckily I had just purchased five large votive like candles for my party in January. I placed them around the apartment so I could manage when the electricity went off. Then I charged up my Sony Reader, so I had something to do and poured myself a beer.
All the doors were bolted and the drapes closed. I could not think of anything else I could do to prepare for the hurricane. At 2:00 I stepped out side and was shocked at what I saw. There were no moving cars or buses and not a sole. What was really eerie, there was no noise. It was absolutely silent. As I have said before Mexico is a very noisy place. I had never known it to be so quiet. Even the church was closed. Unlike The States were churches take in the homeless during a natural disaster, here they lock the doors. If you are not a paying parishioner, you are not welcome. And of course the ever hateful Telecable cut off my TV cable and my internet. With no TV and no internet, I had no way to learn where Patricia was, or when she was going to hit us. Yes, I know, I know, "If I had a smart phone" Well I do not !! So I waited. It continued to sprinkle a little, but no wind. Then I heard that it would not hit until nightfall (is that the same as sunset?) Nothing happened. The lights stayed on and so did the water.
I wondered where that story came from about cutting off the electricity and water. You can not believe what you hear in Mexico. What is passed on as absolute gospel is really just a rumor. I have never known a town where rumor and gossip are so rampant (well, maybe Palm Springs). At 9.00 the rain got a little heavier. I poured myself another drink and went up to my deck. I love sitting there and listening to the rain on the roof of my palapa and watching the rain pour off the roof. During a heavy rain, it is like sitting under a water fall. I love it. But tonight not that much rain and not a breeze. With all my palms I can tell if there is any breeze at all. Then about 10:00 a little wind come up (certainly not 200 miles an hour). I thought, "Well, here is comes" Within 20 or 30 minutes the wind stopped and the rain went back to a drizzle. I got tired of waiting for Patricia and went to bed. The following morning, the streets were wet, but no puddles, then it started to rain and I thought "Okay, here is come". No, the rain ceased. I decided see if Telecable had restored my cable and sure enough, I got CNN news. Patricia was now in Texas and causes very little damage there as well. There was nothing on Mexico. As my friend said, "Once CNN did not see and corpses floating in the water, they dropped the story. Apparently it hit land in an almost uninhabited area south of us. There isn't even a road south of Boca de Tomatlan.
Well, another disaster averted. Now I must put my apartment back together. I unbolted the door to my terrace and decided I wasn't ready put all the plants and furniture back in place. Also I noticed there was about three inches of water in my bucket. A bucket is not a good rain gauge, but it sure wansn't anything near 20 inches. But first I had to answer the 20 messages and half a dozen phone calls I got while my internet was out. It seems I have spent my life trying to avoid another disaster, sometimes I win. There are no photos as there was noting to photograph.
P.S. Over a week after the hurricane that never happened, I had just cleaned my apartment. I start with sweeping and hosing the terrace. Then sweeping and mopping all the tile floors. That night while lying in bed reading, a heavy wind came up. It got so bad, I got up and closed the sliding glass door to my bedroom. Later that night I went upstairs with my nightly glass of Scotch and it looked like someone had emptied a bag of trash on my stairs. For some reason wind on my deck goes into a spin and throws all the trash down the stairs and into my kitchen. Once arriving at my terrace, I found four palm trees had blown over and my lime tree. One knocking a branch off my price crown of thorns and another knocking over my Boston fern and my maiden hair fern. I decided there was nothing I could do that night, so I simple sat there and finished my Scotch. As I said, I do not win all my battles.
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