What a weird time. Fall Craft week for me was weird. I was distracted, never found my groove and actually gave up on the last piece I was working on. I think my head was full of the horror that struck WNC on Sept 27th.

Last year we went to Ingles and bought a ton of perishables as did everyone in line around us. I came home and made a huge pot of chili. It’s worth repeating, if you have any chance of losing water and the ability to flush toilets, eating chili for days (we reheated it in the flattop) is a HORRIBLE idea! We drove around Montreat to see the water levels and headed home. We had NO idea. I remember putting my phone on charge around 10 pm because the news said we might lose power. Neighbors a half mile from us were under mandatory evacuations. Still… no CLUE what was headed our way.

Tonight we are facing another storm and we are being warned to prepare. It doesn’t take much to rattle us and our community. Today we went to the grocery store and stocked up on water, batteries and protein heavy soups. I made sure we have plenty of peanut butter crackers, granola bars and farm fresh unwashed eggs that will be good left out. I was at Walmart tonight and the cashier told me the trends today are exactly like Sept 26th. An early evening surge of shoppers and a run on items preparing for power loss. Is it because hurricanes are brewing or is it PTSD? Both.

Everywhere we went today people were talking about the weather, wishing people luck and safety. We don’t take a storm of any magnitude lightly. One lady told me that her FEMA money JUST came through this week. This! This is why we are fed up, displaced and surrounded by debris. The road to our home still has one home split in half and perched in the creek and one home leaning in a ditch. Many have been condemned and sit abandoned and overgrown. One condemed home was finally leveled last week and the debris hauled away. One home under repair has a camper behind it where the family is temporarily living. Somewhere there are people who called those places homes. Where are they? Did they make it to higher ground? Was their insurance enough to cover any part of their loss? Did FEMA come through for them or is FEMA holding out on them?

There are so many stories on all spectrums. Those who lost everything, those who lost nothing and everything in between. It has taken me a full year to admit out loud my life is better post Helene. In the recovery I saw genuine and raw humanity. I saw those in need and many of you fulfilling the tangible things my neighbors needed. I saw the goodness of strangers. I found people I now call my best friends. A couple of them are coming over for dinner tomorrow night. I’m making chili because I’m turning the page on Helene, shoving it in her face and turning the page on the last year. It’s time for a new chapter.

We have more heart. We are stronger. We will survive.