Finally got cable (and hence, cable modem) back this am. All OK; no structural damage. Lost my beautiful mahogany trees and a guava tree, but fortunately they didn't fall on anyone's car or roof. The one in the backyard did take my neighbor's fence with it, though. Several neighbors had roof damage and one neighbor's tree went through their roof. The trees in my front yard fought the good fight; Frances peeled them apart limb by limb. Upon her return, my neighbor said that my house now looks like a Halloween haunted house, the trees look so eerie.

I fared much better than some friends. I'm one of the rare few who have power; most have been without for 5 days so far with no end in sight. Several friends are now camping on my couches so they can enjoy the AC and hot showers. One friend who lives on Flagler Drive lost his sailboat...and we read in the paper today that their 30-story condominium building may be condemned due to structural damage. They had just finished a year-long gut and remodel of their condo there...

Grocery stores reopened yesterday and a few restaurants reopened last night, although they couldn't seat anyone after 8 pm due to the curfew. Gas, water and ice are still scarce; am making ice deliveries to friends without power as fast as my icemaker can manufacture them!

All in all, we were VERY lucky. That said, I have been through many hurricanes, but this was one of the worst (nothing is as bad as Andrew) because it was neverending. Usually hurricanes blast you for a couple of hours, then move on, but this pounded us for more than 24 hours, preceded and followed by tropical storm winds. Thank heavens it lost strength and came ashore as a Cat 2, with gusts in the Cat 3 category. Cannot imagine what shape we'd be in it had stayed a Cat 4.