GONZALO || THE CALM AFTER THE STORM

the generator is running. the internet is streaming. the water is flowing clearly and freely from the faucets. and I can't help but feel so grateful for how well we fared before, during, and after hurricane gonzalo's brief residence on our tiny island. it wasn't without some difficulty, mind you. monday night, we were thinking of hitting head to pillow a little early out of respect for mitch's upcoming tests. mitch got up to turn on the air conditioning and came back into the bedroom asking for help sweeping the water out of our living room. this seemed really odd considering we live on the third floor of a concrete building, but sure enough, there was water flowing into our living room rather rapidly. turns out, the drain on our balcony was clogged with debris causing our tiny porch to act as a somewhat dirty, tepid jacuzzi. the next three hours of our lives consisted of moving the furniture back...and then back again, repeatedly unclogging the drain outside, sweeping the water out with dustpans, and a very inventive little contraption honed by the husband, himself--two swiffers with a towel tied in between, so as to achieve maximum sweeping capacity. this was then minorly thwarted by the man upstairs' own flooding coming down through our electrical, which was both scary and exciting. all while a hurricane blew through the trees making those palms dance like they were stuck on an episode of soultrain and the sky followed suit with some of the funkiest back-lightening you've ever seen. all I've got to say is, gonzalo has moves.

throughout the panicking, sweeping, draining, and later, cleaning process, mitch and I felt this immense sense of camaraderie and teamwork. he even commented, later, that that is what it means to be husband and wife. not that you have to stand outside, soaking wet, in three inches of water, while leaves pelt you in the face and lightening flashes all around to prove yourselves as a team, but that overcoming obstacles together is what being married is all about, isn't it? and it definitely makes life a little more exciting. we're already laughing about it, actually.

because of the storm, mitch's tests were put off for two days, so we'll be celebrating later tonight with some dorky movie marathon, no doubt. and I'll be scavenging the island for candy corn because, a) what is october without it? and b) I'm a determined one when it comes to celebrating things the right way. I hope all of you are having a wonderful week. it's good to be communicating with the outside world, once again!

also, we are in desperate need of new movie-marathon suggestions. any thoughts?

love, arielle