2/20/22—Blogfinger reports from Tropicana Park.

At last a demolition is sighted one month after the viscious tornado hit and changed many lives during about 60 seconds of hell.  We don’t know who lived in that house before or what happened to them.

The possibilities are limited . They could walk away and leave the mess for the park owners to deal with.  (Homes are owned by individuals;  all the land is owned by one company with deep pockets.)

Or the owner could collect insurance (which, if they had insurance, would be the minimal) planning to rebuild.  The owner will be expected to continue paying monthly ground rent.

They may be staying with friends, renting another space, or they may be back north—Minnesota in winter would be more comforting than this situation. Most people who live here are from the mid-west.

At the corner of Avocado and Palm, the street sign had disappeared. But we found it on the ground, and that’s how we knew where our sighting of a demolition had occurred.

It was Sunday afternoon, and no one was around.  Another demolished  house was next door.  At the site of the demo was a large machine perfect for the job. It was just sitting there as if it were a prehistoric monster, taking a rest between attacks.

But this predator is not an attacker.  It is a machine which will lead the charge to clear that lot so that preparations can begin  for a brand-spanking-new*  manufactured home. Undoubtedly there will be a loud parade of dumpsters soon.

*That term is not brand-spanking-new.  Here is a quote from an 1860  article:

“What I can find is in a story about a luckless sea captain, in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, April 1860, titled ‘Captain Tom: A Resurrection:’”

He had a new vessel, he had a new crew, he had brand spanking new fish-gear; but he had his old luck.

 

Let’s hope that the owner of the new trailer will find his old luck till the end of the journey and beyond.

MARTINA McBRIDE: