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A strange thing about hurricanes is that the day before one hits, everything becomes eerie, quiet. You don’t hear any insects chirping or birds singing. Just a creepy silence. It’s like nature senses that something’s coming, and leaves. Maybe Rocky had felt something strange 1 in the air and decided to get out of Dodge too, 2 I don’t know, but Lizzie was beside herself. We looked high and low — I even went into the woods and called him repeatedly — and nothing. No sign of Rocky. But time was running short and Lizzie 3 had to go. So she 4 drove off with a heavy heart, and I went home to hunker down. I’ll spare you the details of the storm because they’re depressing as hell and I’d rather not 5 relive them. Suffice it to say that after the storm and the flooding, I ended up in Lafayette, Louisiana, about three hours outside of New Orleans, and stayed with a lovely family that hosted me for over six weeks. But of course, I watched the news every day and saw first hand the devastation visited on the city by the flooding that followed the hurricane. Then one day, the mayor of New Orleans went on tv and announced that business owners could start returning to the city. And since I was the general manager of the hotel, the owners authorized me to return in their place since they didn’t live in Louisiana.
1 in the air | [ɪnðiyɛ́ǝr] | When the definite article the occurs in front of a vowel sound, it’s commonly pronounced [ði], and a y-sound is added before the next word: the apple [ðiyǽpʟ]2 I don’t know | [ay.ɖownt nów ] | The negative forms don’t, doesn’t, didn’t are commonly pronounced with an initial flap [ɖ] after words that end in a vowel sound. I didn't see him. [ayɖɪd̚n̩t síːǝm] He doesn't answer. [hiɖǝzɪn ǽːnsʀ]This also applies to any form of do, affirmative or negative, after a question word that ends in a vowel sound like why, who, how, as well as after where: Who do you know? [hùɖʊyu nóːw] Where do you live? [weǝrɖʊyu lɪ́ːv].
3 had to go | [hæ̀ːd̚.dǝ gów] | Here again, we see the word to pronounced [dǝ] after the voiced consonant [d].4 drove off | [drow•vɑ́ːf] when phrasal verbs contain prepositions beginning with a vowel like up, in, out, on, off, etc., the preposition takes on the final consonant of the verb. In other words, drove off is pronounced dro voff.5 to relive | [rilɪ́ːv] | To have to go through something unpleasant again — in real life or in your mind.
(there's/was) no sign of… This expression is used much like nowhere to be seen and nowhere in sight for people and things that are not there when you look for them.
to see something first hand To witness something with one's own eyes and not hear about it from someone else (that would be second hand). In this case, I saw on the news with my own eyes the devastation caused by the flooding; nobody had to tell me about it.
…and nothing This basically means and no response, no reaction after you've asked someone something or otherwise tried to engage them: “I asked my roommate several times if he’d seen the cupcake I was saving in the refrigerator and nothing. That’s how I knew he ate it.”
to be beside oneselfTo be overcome with worry, anxiety, fear or any strong, distressful emotion. In this expression, the word beside is stressed.
to look high and low (for) A common expression used in the sense of looking EVERYWHERE for someone or something.
to hunker down This phrase is used specifically during hurricanes, when one chooses to remain at home rather than evacuate to a safer location or even another city. People's reasons for doing this include protecting their home, taking care of a loved one who can't travel, not wanting to leave one's pets behind, etc.
suffice it to say… We use this expression to preface a short version or summary of something we could say in a lot of words. In this way, it’s very similar to the expression (to make a) long story short, but is more commonly used when it refers to something you'd rather not say or repeat because it's off-color or unpleasant and you think it may bore or offend the listener:"Angie just called and told me she's not coming to our New Year's Eve party because she knows you'll be there. I asked her what happened and suffice it to say, she's not very happy with you."Here, the speaker could go into detail about what Angie told her, but has chosen to summarize it with she's not very happy with you because what Angie actually told her about the person in question was pretty horrible.
to get (the hell) out of Dodge This expression is a cleaner version of to haul ass, and refers to leaving a place when you sense danger or in order to avoid unpleasantness or inconvenience. It's a reference to Dodge City, Kansas — a very dangerous place to be in the American Wild West in the mid 1800s. People would stop in Dodge City to rest during their travels, but one night of gunfights and other horrors was usually enough to make them want to GET OUT OF DODGE as soon and as fast as their horses could carry them. Read more here.
to spare (someone something) This simply means to leave out or not tell things that may upset, depress or disgust someone. In this case, I chose to leave out the details of what happened during the storm so as to not depress you. But you can also hear spare me your lies/excuses/melodrama or anything else you’d rather not hear.
to visit something on someone | This word is mostly used in writing and means to INFLICT or CAUSE some kind of damage, catastrophe or punishment on someone.
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