Was it ONLY five years ago?!

Believe it or not, it was.

This is what it looked like in my old neighborhood up in Apopka the day the name "Charley" became synonymous with "disaster" throughout Central Florida.

Those are the first bands of the storm rolling in from the Gulf, where the hurricane first struck with its deadly force.

We should've known it was going to be bad, arriving as it did on a Friday the 13th . . .

Actually, we made out relatively well in Apopka. Yours truly only lost one branch of one oak tree.

Just a few miles down 441, Orlando got hit much worse.

I remember my parents' home lost its roof. And, one of their old oak trees tumbled down into the driveway to block the garage . . . ripping up a bunch of concrete sidewalk on its way down.

I remember many of my friends and relatives being without power . . . more importantly, without air conditioning during a Florida summer . . . for as long as 9 days.

May the memories serve as a reminder to all ye socks living in hurricane prone areas. Stock up on your storm supplies now before anything like Charley is imminent. Ye'll thank me later.