HURRICANE WARNING: Fort Myers Beach

There's a reason for everything, so I've learned to just go with it.

After getting waylaid in the Hoosier State, and opining for life in coastal Belize, I found myself spending another month up here spinning my wheels. I wasn't sure why. I wanted to be in Florida.

My plan since leaving for Boulder in late 2020 was to return to "my beach," Fort Myers Beach (FMB), where I'd transitioned from a married man to a divorcee back in 2012-13. I fell in love with that place. I FOUND MYSELF on that beach!

I couldn't figure out if I wanted to go back there anymore or head straight for Belize. Well, Mother Nature may make the decision for me. Over the next 48 hours, my beach may take the brunt and brute force of a Category 3 or 4 hurricane.

Hurricane Ian, ripped across the Western end of Cuba overnight, and set it's sights on Southwest Florida, a little south of it's forecasted trajectory. That's where I would have been the last couple weeks had I gotten my way. But for this reason, I was held at bay. How much would it have sucked getting down there, just getting my bearings again and having to evacuate mandatorily. That call came from local government at 7:50 a.m.

Now my island--that seven-mile stretch of postcard paradise dressed in ivory sand--is in the crosshairs of this dangerous storm. What will be left after 10-plus feet of storm surge?? The elevation there is all of THREE FEET! They'll be underwater.

We saw what Hurricane Charley did in 2004. That Cat 4 storm entered the States at Charlotte Harbor, well north of FMB. It cut Captiva Island into three sections, three smaller islands now connected by bridges. That was an indirect hit. FMB is similar in contour and just south of Captiva and Sanibel islands. I doubt it'll fare much better than did Captiva in '04.

I'm worried about my friends down there. I'm also worried I won't have a beach to enjoy anymore. But I am thankful I didn't head down there prematurely.

Maybe Belize IS in my short-term future. Who knows? Time will tell.

I guess the point of all this rambling is "just relax, live in the moment, don't resist." That's a lesson the Universe/Life has been trying to teach me of late. I was resistant to staying here in Indiana. I was eager to get back to my happy place! ALL IN GOOD TIME...and now is not a good time to be on Fort Myers Beach.