The skies finally cleared about 5 p.m. Sunday evening, after nearly a week of clouds, rain, snow, and wind. Wednesday night through Friday, the storm raged in one form of participation or the other, causing many trees to come down, and most, if not all of us, on Southport to lose power. Again our road crew, perhaps with help, managed to clear the main roadway pretty quickly, so we could move about when the precipitation let up, but many of us elected to stay inside. I know I felt a bit strange when I had no internet connection and no phone connection, so accustomed have I become to being linked to the outside world.

Next comes the solar eclipse, which I hope I can experience from Hendrick’s Head Beach. Since I must send this column in on Monday just before the eclipse is due to start, any description of that event will have to be next week, but by that time you probably will have read so many accounts of it elsewhere, it will be old news.

Last week I described the renovations to take place in the dining area of the Southport General Store. Some changes are yet to come, but the bar is in place underneath the windows looking out to the monument as are the red, metal seats for the bar that look like they might be hard, but are really quite comfortable with a swivel ability to allow you to look outside and then inside, ready to talk with whomever is in the room. On April 21 the store will begin opening again on Sundays, for the near future from 8 a.m. until noon.

Some spring flowers are amazing! In spite of all the rough weather, once the snow melted there are the daffodils, still standing with buds ready to open into flowers. When the clouds, wind and rain, and maybe even snow, return the end of the week, we can all take a lesson from the daffodils so that we too come up smiling.

At the island store and perhaps elsewhere you will find an announcement about filing with the government to get help repairing storm damage, and also another paper cautioning you to vet carefully anyone coming to your property to discuss such issues, asking them for identification. Today (April 8) at the Southport Town Hall, Kip Azzoni and Donna Climo were talking about the possibility of having a town meeting with the government folks to discuss the ways to get some help with repairs without being scammed. Stay tuned.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, April 28, which is the annual island clean up day, sponsored by the Southport Island Association. Certainly much to clean up this year, although most requires machinery.