When Hilary came to town, Kelly and I played scrabble and ate pasta. We also watched a movie about the end of the world. It seemed suited to the moment.
But before that point, we fretted and prepared. We tied down anything that could blow away, secured trash cans in the shed, took down canopies, tied the solar panels to the trailers, and used every one of my twenty or so tie downs to keep our belongings securely anchored to Terra Firma.
And then we watched the storm trackers. How close was the center to us? How quickly was it moving? What are projected wind speeds? Then we watched YouTube videos to see what 60mph winds looked like. We googled this sentence: “What windspeed will tip over an RV?”
Spoiler alert: if it’s stationary, north of 100mph. Phew…
Hilary ended up being less severe here than we expected. But it was still pretty bad. It knocked over our beloved screen room (large metal gazebo with screens and drapes), despite it being anchored at multiple points to stationary objects. Turns out 40mph winds are adequate for that task. It took another metal canopy frame with it. Lots of things had water damage from the unrelenting torrent at storm’s peak. Our road, which had finally gotten to a state where even putt-putt cars could make it to the top easily, has been left with gaping ravines which make the descent perilous. There is SO much cleanup to do.
Although the experience was less destructive, by far, than it could have been, it caused us to wonder: “what if we lose everything?” Like the good people of Maui. The victims of hurricane Sandy. The earthquake in Turkey. Statistically, it is likely that at some point, there will be a devastating fire here. Sure we will prepare, but, as we just witnessed with Hilary, preparations are no guarantee. “What if we lose it all?”
It caused me to reflect. Is Rivendell a house, goat pens, gardens, trails? Is that what we are building?
I think not.
Rivendell is an idea. It is an idea about how we can co-exist with our animal cousins. In a way that is not exploitative, but mutually beneficial; that is compassionate and considers that all living things have value.
The buildings are simply a setting for that idea to take breath.
We might lose all of our hard-fought structures one day, in a great cataclysm.
But the idea will endure.
Come hell or high water…
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