Maria log day 42, November 3, 2017, Friday

Friday, November 3, day 42

We took Amber to the vet today. the arthritis in his back and hips is getting worse. He's in a lot of pain and is having trouble walking. It's difficult for him to go down stairs and even harder to go up. The vet gave him a shot of pain killer and an anti-inflammatory. We'll see if that helps.

The strain of five weeks without electricity, weeks without water, and all the other post-hurricane stressors is beginning to show. Things are beginning to fray around the edges. The "we're all in this together" camaraderie is morphing into "me myself and I."

Post-disaster behavior would make an interesting study, both in psychology and sociology.

The strain is most visible at traffic intersections where there used to be lights. At first, even without lights, people were respectful, accommodating, courteous. As gas became more available and people were able to return to work, there were more cars back on the road. Police began directing traffic at major intersections. That kept things calm and moving.

In recent days even the police have abandoned some intersections because some drivers ignore them and zoom right through.

Hope we get traffic light soon.

 I shave off my "hurricane beard" (and hair) today. I'm not sure why. It's only partially because we have consistent tap water. I still use captured rain water to shave with.

Capturing rainwater has become an obsession. I still do it every time it rains. We're using rain water to clean with rather than using tap water.

Maria log day 41, November 2, 2017 Thursday

Thursday, November 2, day 41

We went to visit Sprocket, the rescue horse, today.

Kiki, the young man who is caring for Sprocket, has done an amazing job. Sprocket looks great, especially considering how he was. (Conversations with Kiki are always a little intense. He is very friendly, very animated, and talks faster than anyone I've ever known, so fast even other Puerto Rincans have trouble understanding him. He only speaks Spanish so we really have to concentrate to understand.)

Sometime B.M, (Before Maria) someone took pretty good care of this horse. His hooves have been trimmed, his teeth look good. And he's already gelded! That alone eliminates a huge concern and expense. 

We received an email from Susan, Stan Brock's "assistant to the president" in response to Elaine's email asking if and how he, Stan, intended to help support his rescued horse. Susan explained in a most condescending  email. that Stan has no salary, that he lives in the RAM headquarters building, that he only own five sets of clothes. She said Stan sees a problem and gets it fixed and that he had no intention, no thought, no means to help support this rescued horse. She did ask what the cost would be and did we expect this support to go on indefinitely. 

My response to Susan: Our organization exists to provide therapy to people with disabilities. We are not an animal rescue organization. Our "headquarters" is any place we can find Wi-fi or a cell signal. None of us receives a salary, not even the certified professionals. We have minimal facilities and all of them are damaged. While we certainly sympathize with the plight of the many lost or abandoned horses, in this post-hurricane Maria world, we are struggling with no income to keep the horses we have safe, fed, watered, and healthy. We have no resources to take on rescues. We only took on this project because Stan was so insistent. 

Further, every single one of us believes an act of rescue is an act of commitment. That commitment doesn't end when the animal is "healthy" and recovered. The animal still needs food, shelter and care. Those needs don't suddenly disappear just because the animal is "healthy." So yes, this is an on-going commitment for an indefinite period of time. 

I thought - but didn't say -  it seems to us that Stan sees a problem and gets somebody else to fix it while he moves on. 

This also makes us wonder about his medical clinics. By all reports they are excellent but they are by definition and design temporary. Do they just come in and do quick fixes and then move on? Hmmm...

 On a much happier note, Elaine, Annie, Michelle and I met with the pastors of Ciudad de Salvacion about locating our therapeutic riding center on their property. In the spirit of everything we've seen from them so far, to a person they were welcoming and accommodating. 

 They are offering us about three-and-a-half acres - FREE! We can build whatever we need on the property. They have an 0n-site well so water is not a problem. They will provide electricity. All free. 

Their only request? That no one will be denied therapy because they can't pay. That fits exactly with our mission!

As we talked, it became very clear not only will they allow us to use the property, they want us there. Yes, they see it as outreach but out reach of their "mercy ministry." Like everything else we've seen so far, they offer help along the lines of "what would Jesus do?" rather than a side of help with a huge plate of agenda. 

I am no fan of organized religion of any flavor. I do however have great respect for Jesus as a teacher. I don't believe I need to be "saved" but I do like the way he lived. If more "christians" lived that life, this world would be a much better place.

Maria log day 40, November 1, 2017, Wednesday

Wednesday, November 1, day 40



Elaine came home from feeding the horses with some not good news: the beautiful shade run-in for the horses collapsed.

At first we thought the horses knocked it down. After looking at it, I figured out the horses didn't knock it over. We had a very heavy rain last night. I did a great job of engineering the shelter for everything except heavy rain pooling right in the middle. The weight of the water in just the wrong spot caused the whole thing to implode.

If I'd been able to anchor the legs in the ground, it might not have come down. Then again, maybe it would have.

Breathe in, breathe out, move on.

I said when we built it  I could take it down in a day. Actually it only took about three hours to dismantle. That was hard.

The next shade will be arched, rounded, like a Quonset hut.

The rest of morning was spent trying to track e\down a car to borrow. We had several offers: one wouldn't start; one was completely locked up. For now we're borrowing our friend Lourdes's car. Pretty soon we're going to have to find one.

Maria log day 40 Ocober 31, 2017

Tuesday, October 31, day 40

One of the casualties of the hurricane was the lights on the truck. Some of the wiring got loose, then got tangled in some brush right after the storm and ripped out. We've been  driving with no tail lights, no brake lights and only one headlight.

I know that's very Puerto Rican but I don't like it. Since the storm we've mostly avoided driving after dark. With the car out of commission the truck is our only vehicle.

For a couple of nights when we had to drive it, we stuck a little battery powered light on the tailgate so at least people could tell there was something in front of them. Pretty guerilla and low-rent but "mejor que nada."

Today I spent my day sitting, writing, reading, waiting to get all the lights repaired and working. Nearly seven hours from start to finish.

Done. We have all the running lights again. Now we can drive at night.

NOW, March 12, 2018 Sideways rain and Hurricane flashbacks

Every year in December the trade winds start to blow harder. They're call the Christmas Winds. Christmas Winds can be quite strong during the day - 20 25, even 30 mph. They usually die off at night, only to return n the morning. They blow through the winter until about March, then back off to "normal" breezes.

This year the Christmas Winds seemed especially strong, regularly gusting over 40 mph, which by the way is in the "tropical storm" range. And they seemed to blow longer. day and night, with little reprieve.

When it rains hard in those winds, we get "sideways rain," rain blowing parallel to the ground. For a lot of people the wind and sideways rain induced "hurricane flashbacks" and real anxiety, real fear. For Elaine it was the sound of anything banging in the wind, a shutter, a door, a gate, anything.

In this post-hurricane aftermath,  we live with the myth, the illusion, of restored electricity. We've had electricity back for 40 days, It has gone off for at least part of 10 - 25% - of the 40 days. Yesterday power was off here for 15 hours. For some people this random loss of electricity, even for a few minutes, causes hurricane flashbacks and is a severe stress-inducer.

The rumors about water shut-offs and/or water rationing are back. The latest rumor is the water levels in Lake Guajataca are very low because we haven't had much rain since January. (Duh! This is supposed to be the dry season!) Just the rumors of no water are enough to send some people into a tizzy. 

For me it was last week's huge wave event.

We haven't had waves this big since Semana Santa (Holy Week), 2008. We could see the tops of the waves from out deck. This was in some ways my worst nightmare. The dunes and the beaches were already so badly damaged, so fragile. Water came over the dune at the end of the calle where we get to the beach.

 
The ocean breached the dune in three places, flooding the hay field across the street with sea water, killing the grass.

There was more damage to the dune in addition to the breaches. More trees along the edge are down, more of the dune is undercutting the trees that remain.

The ocean pushed water up the river and trapped it there. The road back to Villa Tropical et al flooded and stayed flooded for four days. Getting in and out was through three feet of salt water.

I didn't get to shoot any of the big wave surfing. We had people coming in to look at the property and all my time was spent either getting ready for their arrival and then meeting with them. Good news coming soon!

Maria log day 38 October 29, 2017, Sunday

Sunday, October 29 day 38

We haven't received any electric bills since August. That bill was due just about the time Maria hit.

I briefly got online at Carole's tonight intending to try to pay the due bill. I noticed that not only was there a bill but an estimated bill for September/October! There has been no electric since September 19th. The estimated bill is bigger than the previous actual bill even though electric use and availability was zero!

Da noive!

This is our 40th day without electric. Mostly I'm okay with it. There are annoyances - no refrigeration, no washing machine. We keep phones and things charged with an inverter from the truck battery and with Carole's generator in the evenings.

The one thing I am missing is my computer. I am jonesing for photography and to be able to use the computer to edit and store images. It would be nice to have stable reliable Internet access to post photos and theses log entries.

There is so much to do I really don't have time for photography and editing but that doesn't stop my soul from jonesing.

Maria log day 37 October 28, 2017, Saturday

Saturday, October 28, day 37

Today was a day of adventures, not all of them good.

The day started well. Elaine met Kiki and together they went to Aguada to rescue the horse, which they named Sprocket.

He's a sweet little guy, well mannered, good temperament. At least prior to the hurricane, somebody took pretty good care of him. When Elaine and Kiki got him he was dehydrated and malnourished but not seriously. We (I say "we" like I'm going to have something to do with it) should be able to get him healthy fairly quickly.

After they loaded Sprocket in the trailer, Kiki headed back to Isabela and Elaine headed to Rincon to teach riding. At some point she realized she left a camera back in Aguada after loading Sprocket so she ran back to look for it.

The car stopped. Quit. Dead. She called me. Fortunately I was in the only place on the planet I get phone signal. I was able to call our favorite tow-truck mechanic (it tells you something about our lives that we have a favorite tow-truck mechanic). He said he would go get her.

But - he got delayed and Elaine sat by the side of the road for nearly four hours. One of her students and her mother stopped to make sure Elaine was okay. She also said she'd try to find the camera.

Sitting by the side of the road, Elaine had cell signal so she called several people, including our daughter Amy. Among other things Amy told her that two good friends - our former kite teammates - were in a horrible car accident. Bob was killed and his wife Karen is in critical condition.

Rafy-the-tow-truck-mechanic finally got to Elaine and got her home. But it was a very difficult, very emotional day.

(By the way, the car really is dead = blown head gasket. If we want to fix it, a car worth about $500 needs close to $1500 in repairs. Um-m, probably not.)

Meanwhile, Marie and I had our own much better adventures. After we fed the horses, Marie needed to go to the main Aguadilla post office but didn't know where it was or how to get there. So I took her roaming back roads to get there.

Since Crashboat Beach was (sort of) on the way home and none of us had seen it, we decided to have a look. Off on more back road rambles and OH. MY. GODDESS!

It's not that I didn't believe the people who told us about the damage to Crashboat, but it's one of those things that until you see it, until you experience it yourself, you can't really comprehend it.

All three of the remaining mooring platforms collapse. Half of the long pier broke off and is gone.

Before Maria: 

Now:

 More than 100 feet of the beach has either been washed out to sea or been pushed up on to what use to be the parking lot. All the palm trees are gone. The ocean comes almost to the where the boardwalk used to be at the edge of the parking lot. The boardwalk is gone.

So much beach washed away that the ocean laps at the little bar in front of the fish market.

 I hope the fishermen got their yolas  moved before the hurricane. There is no beach left where they used to "park" the boats. Before Maria:

I've seen a few photos from other divers of the wreckage under water. It is totally unreal. I really want to dive Crashboat, again to see it for myself. Marie and I talked about it but the visibility has been bad.

One bit of humor and beauty among all the wreckage: Someone collected signs and other useful debris and made a tiki hut.

For now the Crashboat we've known is no more. The area around the piers will be a great dive site - in a couple of years. As for what happens to the rest of Crashboat, like so many things, we'll just have to wait and see.