Ulysses

 Another storm has hit the Philippines. And this one was as strong as Rolly. We were warned about it. We knew it was coming. But it was scary. It was howling. And it was strong.

I kept a close watch on its path. When it initially was going to pass NCR I was so worried. But later on it deviated to Central Luzon. I am not relieved about this because I knew it would be devastating, but I worried a tiny bit less. Afternoon of Wednesday (November 11) was calm but rainy. We spent the afternoon trimming one of the trees and collecting the leaves and branches into trash bags. We didn't have time to trim the other tree because it started raining harder. Come evening, it started to get blustery. When I checked the storm's path, it was scheduled to be closest to Manila at 4am. I thought, "Well I'm not getting any sleep." And I was right.

By 11pm (November 11), the electricity was fluctuating. And then it just turned off some time before 2am. By this time, the wind was just going crazy! I was so afraid of looking out the window because I was so scared the trees would just fly away. It was really really scary. When I checked on the boys they were fast asleep so that was one less thing to worry about. I was so restless from 2am to just before 4am. By then, it was still blustery but there was a noticeable difference in the strength of the wind. And I was bit relieved that we survived the night. No damage, no danger. And I went to sleep.

When I woke up around 9am, there was still no electricity. I checked on the plants and they were okay except for some pots that fell on their side. Our Christmas parols that hung on the terrace were all gone except for 1. Luckily, my mother-in-law found 3 (they landed in the garage). We found one by the side of the road and another in one of the plants. Our roof had some leaks but nothing significant.

Our next worry is the food in the refrigerator. How long was the power interruption going to be? We didn't want the food to spoil. So we checked the freezer and got the one that thawed the most (It was the ground pork). We made lumpiang shanghai and torta. I thought, if the electricity won't come back in the evening, I would have to cook all the raw meat inside the freezer. 

After lunch, the boys played some Pictionary and we read a bit. Then I took a nap because I was still so sleepy. By this time, the storm was already located outside the Luzon landmass but the damage was devastating. Whenever I would check updates, my heart would ache. So much flooding, destruction and damage. And at the same time, I feel so lucky. We're lucky that our home is secure. We're lucky that our area does not flood. We're lucky that our trees are intact (I really wanted them to survive the storm because a lot of birds and some bats live in it, not to mention some insects.) We're lucky because we could still monitor the typhoon with our phones. We're lucky because we have food to eat. We're lucky because our street did suffer any major damage. And we're lucky because at 530pm, the electricity came back and I didn't have to worry about spoiled food or a restless night. I know these may seem small to some, but I just feel so very lucky today.

I hope and pray the Philippines will recover from this onslaught. We have had typhoon after typhoon and just as we are about to get on our feet, another one comes and knocks us down. But we will rise. Of that I am sure.