New Year, New Beginnings

Today marks the beginning of the roaring 2020's. Last year was an interesting one with experiences I both enjoyed and truly disliked. In 13 days we depart for the Bahamas to live in our little cottage for a few months. Amazingly our place withstood the Category 5+ Hurricane Dorian with some damages but nothing that cannot be repaired. I am a confirmed dislikes of hurricanes.

As a Canadian going through this hurricane experience is a new one. Blizzards, ice storms, the occasional tornado warning yes but recovering from a hurricane? One of this magnitude? On a very small island? Three thousand miles from home? The last part of 2019 was rather stressful because of this. We are, however, so thankful that we did not have to nor choose to remain on Guana Cay during the storm and that we have a safe, secure home to live in that is not in a disaster zone! 

We left Guana Cay August 26, 2019 with the intent of being tourists in South Florida for ten days before heading home to Ottawa. Dorian was quietly spinning away in the Antilles at this time. In no time at all Dorian became a threat for the Bahamas and Florida and our holiday morphed into us watching weather porn in our hotel room while considering what to do. Stay put and head back to the island after the storm was our first thought, but as the storm grew, it became clear that we were not getting back anytime soon and if we did, it was likely we wouldn't have a house on Guana anymore. So we went home. Imagine our amazement when we were sent an aerial photo on September 4th that showed our little house still there!

Three weeks later....

We are back on Guana to patch up broken windows, clean up water damage and assess the situation. The devastation created by this storm cannot be described and the images the world saw online, on TV in papers do not truly illustrate the destruction. Marsh Harbour took an apocalyptic hit, Guana wasn't any better. The world seemed silenced, night skies truly black, the ocean clear turquoise blue and the island stripped of greenery, waterfront scoured to rock, every building damaged or destroyed.

Now...

The resilience of the Bahamian people is remarkable. They have survived this trauma and they have already begun picking up the pieces. The Cay communities have truly banded together to recover from this event and we are truly thankful that we are part of the Guana Cay community. In Marsh Harbour, the airport has re-opened, Maxwell's the major grocer for the Abacos is open again, a bank, pharmacy, several businesses have re-opened. The clean up is immense and the re-build will take a long time, but it will happen.

In a couple of weeks our little adventure will begin. It is nothing compared to the journey the resident Bahamians of the Abacos must travel but it is our journey. While Neil works to repair our house, I will help him as I can and hopefully we can both contribute something to the community. I am equal parts anxious and excited about our new year.