The worry over Hurricane #Irma: our house is in Florida

At our Sarasota house, the back garden slopes into the river and old trees shade you from the world

Here’s an email from the tenants at our house in western Florida:

“Hope all is well.  I am sure you are aware of the hurricane headed our way.  We are preparing for this storm.  We are boarding windows at the home and preparing for water surges.  I will let you know if there is (sic) any issues after the storm. I am hoping the roof holds up!”

Irma is the point at which acts of nature (unnatural acts of nature?) intersects with us. First, it was St Maarten, where we know people, then Haiti where we have friends having lived there for two years, and now, Florida.

As of the morning of Tuesday (Sept 12), at least four deaths have been reported in Florida, and at least 27 across the Caribbean.

We don’t yet know what’s happened to the Sarasota house. Its back garden slopes down into the river and giant old trees spread comfortably, almost shading one from the world.

And how has the storm affected Sarasota, once America’s circus city (Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey) and even now, a city with more restaurants than banks, real estate offices, and churches combined.

One of the more extraordinary exhibits at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota is the Howard Bros. Circus Model, the world’s largest miniature circus, which gives a sense of the scale and complexity of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Combined Shows of 1919-1938