The funny thing is that the first few days there were no creatures around at all except the occasional bird, with one exception - butterflies. The very next morning there were butterflies darting in and out of all the stuff piled around the house.

You get a clear idea where some legends come from - it was quite odd to see.

Butterflies darting;
In and Out of all the stuff,
Piled around the house.

Believe me; that is the real thing. You can't fake this.
5/7/5
looking intently at the object irrespective of any other thought
the season expressed( butterflies come out in August)
nature in a mental photo

You're a regular Basho.
Can I submit that in your name to the international Haiku contest?

The news is that people are starting to come back in and power is restored in a lot of places. Seems like they're all saying the lost of property is enormous, and the numbers they're talking about are way up there. But they're also saying they think a whole lot more people survived than first reported. I sure hope so.

It's hard to get a real picture from the news. Not hard, impossible. But I'm hoping for the best. Thanks for keeping us informed Charlie, and take good care.

It's all yours buddy; good luck with it.