"Following where my camera leads me!"

"Following where my camera leads me!"

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Meanwhile, in Columbia....

You can't argue with a hurricane.
 So you get OUT OF IT'S WAY. 
While you are in Columbia, or Charlotte, or perhaps Greenville....or other safe destinations--you await news of the hurricane's location, projected arrival time, and strength. You watch the Weather Channel and see the newspeople out in the mad wind, almost being blown down as signs, awnings, and piers are swept away. The palm trees bend and the big trees break.  Perhaps you see your own neighborhood, flooded. You see awful devastation once it's made it's way through and the eye has passed. You can't go home just yet because the highway lanes have not been reversed back. You have to wait for that. Then you wait to see if the roads are open since many close. If they are flooded or big trees lay across them, there is not much you can do but just wait for it to subside. Then you see which areas/neighborhoods are okay to enter and if they are not, such as with live wires down, or bridges closed or broken, you have to wait. Then there is the issue of power. You may think you are in a hurry to get home, but when you get there if you have no power what do you do? No electricity, the refrigerator is off, no radio/tv, fans to blow breezes, no hot water, lights at night, no way to cook. You can't go to a restaurant because they are all CLOSED. Stores---also closed. Gas stations---closed. If the bridge going to your city, town, area is closed, you can't get in anyway. 
So you really just have to wait and go back when they tell you it is safe. It can be frustrating, the waiting. But we all try to be patient and wait our turn. Many can work from anywhere now, on their laptops, this is what Mr. Front Porch was able to do. When he took breaks or called it a day, we tried to keep ourselves amused and busy and try not to think of  the hurricane or the damage it left behind. Make the best of a bad situation.
So we walked alot. We walked the city. And the parks. And the historic district. We walked by rivers and we walked by lakes. The dogs thought we were on a big adventure for sure!

(below, colorful rocking chairs!)



Isn't that chair pretty??!


Our state's Capital:




Window shopping:





Alley peeking:
And people watching:







This bluegrass trio was fun to listen to!















While walking around I noticed that trees and posts were covered in knitting and crochet. It was pretty and I didn't know why it was there. You can find out by clicking here below:

What are "yarn bombs?" Find out here:















Below: LOL Look at Tammie's eyes! ha ha













Here, a photographer works with his subject:

Another Columbia park:

This one had an old schoolhouse:



.......and pretty pink flowers.

Another day........another park----

The sun was sending sunbeams down through the woods.



The trails here were super wide and well paved and the river sparkled.

It was quite lovely!







Ending this post with pictures of "hurricane kitties" in hotel windows...
These people brought their kitty some kind of bed that had suction cups on it that attached to the window...and the kitty loved sitting there and watching things and people!


Kitty says "is Hurricane Matthew finished and can we go HOME NOW?"

9 comments:

  1. what a great post debbi...making the best of a bad situation!! i LOVED the colorful rockers you opened with, i would love to do something like that with leftover yarn. i wonder how you would keep them clean?? the yarn bombs, another super creative wow!!! i love them and how wonderful the town was receptive. some peeps can be stuffy and not open to art that is colorful and very different. i can image my happiness seeing them for the first time!!!

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  2. So many photographs! I like the pictures of the woods and the river best. I can visit the city and towns, but my heart is in the country. It's too bad I'm not.

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  3. You certainly are putting a lot of miles on your feet, Debbi! I've spotted some of those yarn bombs around our village and didn't have a clue what they were. Thought it was so more modern art. The last few years a lot of artists have discovered our area.

    Hugs
    Jane

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  4. Wow, what a super interesting place!! So glad you were able to find the silver lining - looks like you had quite a good time, waiting out the storm!

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  5. Thanks for sharing all your photos. You sure did walk a lot! Glad you are safe and sound.

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  6. You certainly made the best out of a bad situation... I would so impatient --and wanting to go home so badly.... BUT--as you said, it just takes patience... So glad that you didn't have major damage....

    Love the pictures of Columbia... We have been 'through' there many times (on the interstates) --but never 'in' there to see how pretty it is.

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  7. I hope you have good shoes with all sigh seeing your doing! So glad that you are safe and sound and made the best of it. I found out that you are quite patient, a trait that is my strong suit.

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  8. Well, all I can say is that you certainly know how to rally to the cause. It's fun to see Columbia but I'm sure you would much rather be at home checking out your own space and I am hoping all is well there. Holding you close in my heart.

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  9. I admire you so much! You really did get as much as possible out of evacuation. I've never been in Columbia so enjoyed the photos, excellent story they told. We went home after 2 days, as soon as the bridges were open. Only minor damage around us but so much all up and down the beaches. We did drink the water for 2 days as no one told us we were under a boiled water alert and our cable was out but I guess it didn't hurt us.

    So glad you made it home safely!

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