A Very Close Call

I suppose I shouldn’t be moving about yet, especially at night, but I just couldn’t sleep. I am curious to see what damage was done by Hurricane Ian. There are bushes and branches all over the place. It’s strange to see the ghostly shadow of small trees lying flat. They look like they are sleeping but I know better. 

It was quite a storm. I just sat and leaned against the wall for five hours while the winds raged. I was constantly looking up hoping the roof would hold. I wouldn’t want that to fly off for sure. As I move slowly and cautiously around and over debris I wonder how my siblings fared a few blocks away. 

What’s this? A metal object with a little point on it. I wonder how this got here. I looked it over carefully and finally realized it was the garage light fixture near the walk. It apparently took flight and blew over the house into the backyard. 

This is the lanai. I see the posts in the dim light. Most of the screens are flapping gently in the light breeze. I spot one large screen missing. I am curious to determine where it went. I slowly push through the grass and spot it sticking out of the pond a few feet beyond the lanai. I wonder if there were any fish trapped under the screen? There’s nothing I can do for them. It’s too late.

I work my way cautiously back to the lanai, staring up at the screen damage above. What?! Suddenly I am in deep water. I think to myself “Oh no. I survived the hurricane only to make a careless mistake and drown in a pool”. How ironic. After several panic strokes it became obvious that I was circling and running out of energy. I floated for a minute pondering my fate when the miracle occurred.

A hand swept under me and lifted me gently upward. I sat helpless and still as I was dropped into the grass. I have been rescued. Thank God. I imagine that if we did have a newspaper the headline would read- “Little tree frog saved from drowning by kind human”. Unfortunately the rest of the news might not be so positive- “The death toll climbs to 7,412 tree frogs, 1,407 egrets, 698 anhingas, 512 common moorhens, 16 black crowned night herons and 43 humans”. Tragic.