Bananas

The hurricane, Hermine, the first one to reach land in Florida since 2005 (a fact I learned retrospectively) reached our land about three hours after the movers left. Thirty minutes after the movers left, the rain started. We were relieved to be in our new house and to be out of the world of motels. It was a fierce storm. Two things were damaged: our fence and the banana palms.

The fence was easily repaired and the damage did not compromise the integrity of the compound. We actually have two fences: a chain link fence that is buried to prevent the land from being invaded by alligators or vermin and a stockade fence. Four or five panels of the stockade fence hit the ground from the winds. They are now back up. Swimming in the buff in the pool can resume.

The banana palms, battered by the wind, had to be cut back. As I understand it the season for bananas was basically over and banana palms actually need to be cut back every year. The fellow who mows the lawn cut them for us. While doing so, he found the last crop of bananas for the year. They have been sitting outside ripening. Today, Emma and I shared the first ripe one. It was soft and sweet and delicious. Tibe it turns out is not a banana fan; he was vexed by Emma’s embrace of the sweet, tender banana. Emma and I enjoyed our moment of eating from the fruit of the land.