September 6th is a weird day in my world. It’s probably a weird day for many of my friends too. On one hand, you can’t help but think about where we were six years ago at this very moment. But on the other hand, we just want to keep it in the past. It’s an odd juxtaposition.
When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t sure if I would even write today. Like what do you say? Do I write about Irma or do we act like that today is just another day? Well here I am, and here are a few of my rambling thoughts… 🙂
I guess I’ll start with the fact that not everyone wants to talk about Irma. I’ve been asked about it for six years while on my island tours, so it doesn’t bother me that much. I do, however, get goosebumps on my arms every single time that a guest asks me about that day. It’s interesting how your body reacts to certain things.
I’ve been at restaurants over the years and witnessed people sit down and immediately ask their servers or bartenders about the storms. No hi. No how are you doing? Just tell me about a day that scarred you for life. I completely understand the curiosity, but again, it’s not something everyone wants to relive or chat about. Just something to think about, and I hope I don’t sound like a jerk saying that.
Someone walked into The Beach Bar a few weeks back and basically told my other half that we should all be “over it” because “it was so long ago.” Well, not everyone is. 🙂
Ok, on to the positive! I was floored at how quickly Mother Nature bounced back after Irma! As you probably know, most of our leaves were stripped from the trees that day. But miraculously, just a few weeks later, we had buds on the trees again. Amazing!
I saw some crazy stuff the day after Irma. The craziest was a piece of steel that was dangling on a powerline in front of Margarita Phil’s in Cruz Bay. It looked like a guardrail or something of the sort. It was bent in half and just dangling over the street. Crazy.
I was over at Gallows Point a few days later and chatting with Akhil, the general manager, when he told me to look up. A door frame was dangling in a tree high above our head. That was also pretty crazy.
I was overwhelmed by the love we received following the storms. I still cannot thank you all enough for donating to so many great organizations and for coming back so quickly that year. I had so many first-time visitors on island tours that winter, which was just mind-boggling to me. I asked why they were here, St. John still hadn’t fully recovered, and most stated that they heard we needed tourism dollars. I cannot count the number of times I got a little teary-eyed on island tours that winter. I blame my pregnancy hormones for that, of course! – lol.
This island has come a long way since Sept. 6, 2017. We’re a resilient little bunch, and there is a lot of love down here. We’re gearing up for another great season, and I hope to see many of your faces this winter. Now go ahead and start perusing for airfares. Start browsing villas, and book that trip!
I love ya all. Thank you so much for reading.
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