Well blow me down!

Jeez Louise, the wind here has been spectacular lately. I feel like I'm living in a wind tunnel. Another reason the electricity/internet/cable go out? High winds.

A few years ago, before son was born, I was at home in San Rafael (Escazu) during a tornado. Esposo was at work, and our handyman just happened to be there fixing the plumbing in the bathroom. I looked outside, and there was a small tree flying by my backyard, and a piece of metal roofing landed in the driveway a few inches from my Haunted Hyundai (lucky that, since we didn't have insurance on the old hunk-o-junk). As I was looking outside, I mentioned something to the handyman about how scary it all was, and he said something like, Yep, a little bit of wind today! Ah, such a knack for understatement. Only later on the news did I realize there had been a tornado touchdown in our neighborhood.

Somehow, I (and now twice with friends) seem to be blissfully unaware of what's happening outside of where I am at the time. Take the most recent earthquake, for example, when I was with two of my friends and all of our children in a Land Rover. Then as we were eating lunch, one of the friends remarked how the country was probably falling down around us, and here we were completely unaware, having lunch. (Which turned out to be completely true.) Yesterday, during playgroup, I commented that it felt like being in a wind tunnel (the end of Multiplaza where Cafe Te Con Te is), and the same friend made a similar remark, referencing our previous lunch during the post-earthquake craziness. Amy just told me that 200,000 people are without electricity in Pavas and Rhormoser, and cell phone towers are now running on battery backup, so they expect them to go out soon. Great.

See, these are the things you just have to deal with in a developing country in the tropics. Speaking with Chris this morning, she asked me if I wasn't used to this by now. And really I should be. But I still haven't been able to sleep very well at night through these winds. I just keep wondering if part of the roof is going to be blown off, or a tree is going to come crashing down on the house or through a window (knock on wood, so far so good).