while we were dealing with Charley.  Or rather Charley was dealing with us,
We live in St. Cloud, FL (and are call called Floridians).  It was very
windy for a couple of hours and then Charley arrived with a huge gust of
wind and continued with winds like that for exactly one hour.  We could hear
things flying through the air, things crashing against the house and the
driveway.  I looked out at one time and it was pitch, total black.  I could
not see the white iron work posts that support my front porch or even my
pick-up truck that was only six feet away. Black, black, black.  We lost the
electricty but not the phone.

In the morning we discover how wonderfully magical the thoughts, purrs and
crossed fingers worked.  We have no structual damage to our house, our cats,
all three of them are fine, no one is the house is injured.  We have some
pain in the neck stuff, the antenna fell over but not off the roof, uprooted
some bushes that were quickley replanted, lost one very small branch from an
orange tree.  And our yard looks like every one elses, covered with leaves,
twigs, branches from other peoples yards. We got our electric back in three
and a half days.

I complain about the government but what I have seen here makes me give
pause and not paint all of the government departments with the same brush.
FEMA, National Guard, are two that come to mind.  In addition there are the
Red Cross, Salvation Army, all the local churches.  There are electric
companies from Illinois, North and South Carolina.

We are very fournate, our neighbor lost his roof, my boss lost the screened
in porch that runs the length of her house and the leading edge of the roof
exposing the interior rooms to rain and damage.  Many stories like this.
Thank you for caring.

Charleen,
Mr. Pumpkin, who was not afraid as long as he was with me,
Aggie Marble, who dug a hole, jumped in and pulled the hole in after her,
Victor Velcro, who was frightened but kept looking at me and "saying" I am
not scared, no sir, not me.