At around 3:00 pm today, I breathed a semi sigh of relief, having learned that South Florida is no longer positioned within the infamous cone of destruction. I write "semi" sigh because Irene is still working her blustery way through the Bahamas and up the east coast. Since Sparkle Girl and I are flying in that direction on Saturday, I'm still not entirely in a position to feel comfortable.

Additionally, once I got over my own sense of an improved situation, I realized that the Bahamas are still in a situation of danger. A knot of shame began to bounce around in my gut; I've been ranting about my travel plans being disturbed, but there are people out there who have major upset to deal with, the kind that brings uprooted trees, flooded roads, roofs peeled back like the tinny tops of sardine cans. I have experienced these conditions and they are neither fun to live through nor are they fun to clean up after.

Tonight, my prayers will be with the Bahamas. I'm not going to say I'm not happy that our chances of traveling on Saturday have improved, but I do have an incredible sense of my own ability to take a situation and look at it only as it pertains to me.

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