Grateful for being spared the wrath of Tropical Storm Gabrielle

9-11. This day always conjures up memories of such bad karma and energy. Conjures up images and feeling of fear, anger, retaliation and despair.

So yesterday when I heard Tropical Storm Gabrielle’s closet point of approach was going to be at 1 in the morning of 9-11, I felt nervous. Worried that we could be facing some dark force. Such that when I left the office to pick up my daughter, the light outside as well as the air outside felt very oppressive. Ominous. Light but not quite light. Dark but not quite dark. A feeling of orange, red and yellow duelling to see which colour would be the most present. And of course all the colours felt overshadowed by the blackness of the clouds. The darkness of the sky. A feeling of everything being too close that the air needed to clash in order to break up. I felt the Tropical Storm Gabrielle was really coming to us for a reason.

Then when I got my daughter from her class, as soon as she walked out and took my hand she looked at the sky and said the air looks strange. The light does not feel right. Branches were snapping off the trees and were being blown across the streets. There was an eerie silence in the midst of the strange light. Anticipation. Apprehension. Anxiety.

As we were driving home she commented again about the strange light. She repeated out loud what I was thinking inside. It was neither dark nor light but something in between. We agreed that the air felt like it wanted to break. That it needed to break. By the time we got home the wind was howling. The roads were full of scattered debris. She even had to get out of the car to move a branch that was blocking the road to our home.

A feeling of what was about to happen permeating my whole body. It was our first brush with a storm for the hurricane season. Not even a week after one of our worst storms on record – Hurricane Fabian some 10 years before. And we were getting our first taste and reminder of how powerful Mother Nature can really be.

My husband on the other hand was not worried. He did not have the headache he normally gets when there is a true weather system with deep lows coming near to us. He also felt the winds were not that bad. He didn’t think we needed to panic. All he did was move the car so it would not be damaged by torpedo avocadoes being blown off the trees in the wind. Other than that he was calm.

After tucking our children in, I read with interest all the blogs, Facebook and twitter comments about the pending storm. Schools shut before the wrath of Tropical Storm Gabrielle was even known. The anxiety barometer rising. Our children’s school deciding not to make a decision until this morning. Calling my sister who has just returned home when I read her post about the haunting sound of the wind. Her statement resonating with me as I always feel the same way when there is that humming of the wind. Almost like something more is breathing and living beside us. I wanted to make sure she was not alone. Relieved to know my brother was there with her.

And then I went to bed. Trying to get to sleep before the winds picked up as the storm came closer to us. Howling winds and pouring rain always unnerve me. Awake me out of my deepest sleep so I like to get ahead of them when I can just so I can get some rest. Waking up at 1.24 this morning listening for the storm’s apex as this was supposed to be within the closet point of the storm, surprised to hear the wind had not changed much from when I went to bed at 11.30 the night before. Feeling somewhat comforted and grateful at the same time, I took advantage of the not so bad wind and rain and went back to bed. Falling into a deep sleep.

Waking up this morning at 4.54 to virtual silence compared to the night before. Feeling relief flooding through me. We had been spared the wrath of the storm. It had come and gone I knew but not to the extent predicted. Not to the extent feared. Realising it is 9-11 and how fortunate we are to have that storm behind us. The air silent. The winds dissipated. Thinking of how fortunate I am to have woken up this morning when others 11 years ago were about to face the worst form of destruction by mankind – terrorism.

Feeing so grateful for the storm passing us by without much damage and destruction. And realising the date does not have to be negative. Does not have to bring destruction. Just reverence and a moment of silence.

Remembering the posts posted last night that said ‘the shark oil was clhur’ and because the storm was called Gabrielle, we would be okay because the Ark Angel Gabriel would be looking out over us. And accepting when we go back to our natural instincts and native ways of being, we always know when we are being confronted with something that can harm us or not.

Grateful to be here and in tact with little to no damage but fully understanding the power of Mother Nature and our native customs and remedies, ‘the shark oil was clhur’ and my husband had no headache. Indicating there was no way we would get the worst of the storm.

Looking out my window this morning and seeing the stars twinkling behind the fast moving clouds. Filling me with great reassurance that this 9-11 was going to be okay. No problems at all. And for being spared the wrath of the storm, I am truly grateful. Remembering in silence those who lost their lives at the World Trade Center with reverence and grace. Namaste.