Available at auction from my Ebay store.

So - every night this week I've been going online to find the news and weather for the local stations in central Florida. They are giving me a much more realistic view of what will happen during the storm than the national news I am hearing. Yes, I know Miami will be a disaster, and my heart breaks for all those folks that still live down there...or have recently moved there (seduced by sunshine and beaches) and never been through a hurricane.  I have friends who survived Andrew, and left the state. Moved far away. Yet I grew up in central Florida, and I understand that love for tropical beauty. You tolerate a high risk for storms for that beauty.  Spent some time this morning, as well as late afternoon on the phone with mom again. She's ready for this, as ready as one could be. While on the phone late this afternoon, she did let me know it was just starting to sprinkle, but there wasn't any wind yet. Not a single leaf was moving on any of the trees, she dutifully reported.  For all her preparation, she admitted to being nervous about the windows, and was moving her favorite painting away from the window to her closet.  That, and the chance she wouldn't be able to make coffee if she lost power. We had to giggle. I reassured her there would be coffee in the common dining room, as the place has generators for power during storms. They are on the same power grid as the local hospital, so they will be among the first to get power back on. I learned that lesson during  hurricane Isabel in Virginia Beach. We were the furthest from the hospital, so among the last to get our power back on after a week.  But a week is nothing. Those suffering from Harvey, and now Irma won't have their lives back in order for months...possibly years. This is going to be a tough one.  

So I'm painting small, blogging when I can. Mom time comes first. As long as she has power, and we can talk on the phone, we will. I start teaching my next series of watercolor sketchbook classes next week.  God willing. I'm hoping mom will be safe and sound, and her senior living place be intact, and all my Florida friends come through this unscathed. Hoping and praying for the best outcomes.  I know you will be thinking of everyone down there, too.  Thanks for your prayers.