It’s late on Tuesday, July 12 as I write this. As instructed I left the area and was fortunate to come home to a fully standing structure, complete with air conditioning, making me amazingly lucky.

When a decision to evacuate your home to avoid potential disaster is made, a number of factors come into play. Not the least of these is finding a room somewhere out of harm’s way. If you are a pet owner, the problem can be aggravated. As we know all too well in this region, pets are not welcome at shelters and with good reason. However, if you are a person who would no more leave your pet behind than to leave one of your arms, make a note of www.petswelcome.com. This marvelous site gives you a list of all hoteliers and motels that will welcome you and your pet with open arms.

When our traveling troupe of three humans and one canine arrived in Jacksonville and located what would be our home for the next three days, virtually everyone checking in had a dog. Not only does Motel 6 leave the light on for you—they are fully aware of all the components of family. This was Snazzy’s first road trip and she was a trooper.

We found everyone in Jacksonville to be exceptionally nice, but what was truly outstanding was the people working at this rather shabby, aging Motel 6. First of all, they were unaccustomed to being full and turning away reservations. They broke their backs trying to keep the trashcans emptied and simply dealing with a mass of humanity and animals suddenly descending on them.

We dubbed our wing of the motel, the Okaloosa County Wing, although there was one yahoo right next door to us from Bay County. I say yahoo because we can’t print what he really is. The reason for my contempt is this man walked right out the door of his room and rather than using either of the garbage cans placed at either end of the sidewalk, proceeded to take his trash and throw it over a fence in full view of us. When confronted about it, he said, “I had to throw it somewhere.”

What in God’s name would give this guy the notion this was acceptable behavior? He had to walk further to toss it over the fence. He was old enough to know better and one would presume he would have taught his kids better, but maybe not. I can only hope he did not reproduce. After he retreated into his room, I walked in back of his car and made a note of his license plate number. He could see me because his drapes were open. I vow to find out who he is and report him to whoever will listen. I ratted him out to the motel people the same day. He made me feel dirty just because we were of the same species and holed up there for the same reason. I’m generally pleasant to everyone serving me, but I upped the nice ante considerably for the rest of my stay, just to try and even up the karma thing.

Everywhere we went, we found other refugees. This motel was in an industrial area where weekend business usually does not exist. None of the eating establishments were prepared for hordes of hungry people, yet everywhere we went, we were treated with courtesy and a smile. Monday morning I walked into a Shell Oil convenience store and was greeted with a booming “good morning” from the gentleman behind the counter. When was the last time you were treated warmly or even greeted with a smile in this area?

Due to the wonders of today’s technology, I was even able to mother this little publication from afar. Not far from my rented room, there was a Kinko’s where I could rent a Mac and I read email, checked in with our page designer to make sure she had received everything I sent on Friday, and even wrote a story. The conveniences at our disposal these days are impressive.

I’ll be in my own bed tonight and that’s a wonderful thing. For all of those without beds, roofs, and many other things, please know you are in my thoughts.

If there is any justice, Mr. I Can’t Be Bothered To Put My Trash In The Can Because I Don’t Live Here went home to a pile of trash that was formerly his home.

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