It’s a very good time to be here. But mind your step.

This week, the Engineering Committee of the Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority met to talk about the cost of the damage to the bridge during Helene and Milton. We will have extensive details about those needed repairs next week; they have a long list of short-term and long-term items, but the good news is that the bridge is sound. There will be some extensive repairs to the areas around the approaches to the bridges, which were washed out.

They addressed many humorous aspects of the cleanup at the meeting, as well. They received a call about the large plastic water cisterns which dot the trash piles on the island.

The cisterns washed up from Little Gasparilla Island, where they are used frequently for yard watering. A resident called and said that while she had folks coming for Thanksgiving, she did not know what to tell them about the sewage.

“Someone thought they were all septic tanks,” said GIBA Executive Director Kathy Banson.

She had to tell her that they were merely water tanks, and they were one of many things that washed up on the Causeway during Helene and Milton. GIBA has sorted the debris out of the mangroves, but there it waits.

It’s all about appearances, and how you spin it.

While they have had pickups for trash on the land side of the bridge, they are waiting on FEMA and the county to pick up the trash from the causeway islands. Everything on the islands was in mangroves or on the grass.

Some things have been picked up along the Causeway, however. She reported that all stray kayaks somehow quickly found a way out of any mangroves.

Some things remain.

“There were so many refrigerators,” Banson said. “It seemed like every refrigerator from Little Gasparilla Island was on our property.”

Like so many of us, they are waiting on FEMA to take refuse. They have taken debris off the land side, but not the islands.

This week, the cleanup on the island continues. It seems that as each week progresses, more and more gets done, but the more that gets done, the more there is to be done.

The good news is that businesses continue to open literally each day. We have many of the openings in Ballyhoo, including our Crews Bank, which was operating on card tables.

Three of the Gasparilla Island State Park lots opened, after much work, last weekend.

Last week, the Chamber set the date of the Christmas Walk, and the Woman’s Club announced the Christmas Tree Lighting.

The Inn opens December 12, or 12-12 at noon.

Very often, many are making do to accommodate everyone who wishes to be here. South Beach Bar & Grille has a new porch wall. It is plywood, but they have created windows to watch the sunset through Plexiglass.

The recovery is actually a part of the appeal. People want to know how you are doing, how your house fared and when they will see others.

While the storm is an enormous hindrance, it is always a conversation topic.

Residents who can be here, and have a habitable house, seem very happy to be here. The weather is now cooler, and other than our trash piles, this is still an extraordinary place to be.

There is also a lot to watch.

While it isn’t fun to see a trash pickup, the sand projects in town along the Gulf of Mexico are fascinating to watch. Just stay out of the way. That’s the rule; don’t do anything to slow the progress down.

The Anchor Inn (see story) opened this week, with their first guests expected to be a newlywed couple. They insisted that they wanted to be here, no matter if the island was perfect, or not.

Garland Pollard is editor of the Beacon. Email letters and comments to editor@bocabeacon.com.