Rebuilding Bolivar

“Look at life through the windshield, not the rear-view mirror.”
- Byrd Baggett

All last fall, I looked at life through the rear-view mirror, missing what I had had. The loss of my little cabin at the beach was more than the loss of a building. It was the loss of all of the good times we had shared with new and old friends, the special times spent with family, the closeness David and I had nurtured there, my own little sanctuary where I could get away from everything... But now it is time to move forward. We have been meeting with builders in Crystal Beach who can help us start over. We looked at several different builders, but I feel very strongly about keeping the work close to home and hiring Crystal Beach people to build our next cabin. Fortunately for us, we learned of a pair of builders who will fit the bill, Casa Mare Builders. One of them lives in a nearby community on the mainland, but has a very nice home on a canal across the highway from our neighborhood. His partner grew up coming to Crystal Beach in the summers as a child. The house he spent so much time in, his grandmother's house, was also a casualty of Ike's. We recently had a chance to tour a home they had built right before Hurricane Ike. It withstood the storm just fine. We have met with them several times, and had numerous phone visits. We just feel good about them. And, they are just nice people.

Here is a picture of the house we saw:
If you look closely, you can see a broken window on the front of the house. A man who had been stranded on the peninsula because of the rapidly rising water swam to their deck, and tried to break the window. The window held, and he had to ride the storm out on the deck...That is some strong window. I'm sure he was highly motivated! They are still awaiting its replacement. I feel really secure in their product!

So now, it is time to look through the windshield and let the rear-view mirror start recording new memories!