Plus I’ve Never Nearly Lost A Toe To Wind And Rain

As hurricane season enters its final month here, let me just say I absolutely understand it when I get asked “Why do you want to live in a place that gets hurricanes?”

The answer is, of course, I hate weather I have to shovel that much!

I Don’t Even Know What To Call This (But Yeah, We’re Fine, Thanks)

Remember how last week I said it wasn’t a “good” hurricane season until I got the panicked after the fact text/e-mail?

Well today for the first time ever I got the panicked follow-up text/e-mail apologizing for them being too sick to even think about their first text/e-mail (which I answered last week) until today and were we still okay?

I Hope That’s Understandable

I’m concerned some of my recent entries (specifically this one and this one) may have come across as little more than griping that people care about me.

I swear that’s not it.

I don’t mind being asked if I know there’s a storm coming. (I almost certainly do know, and I’ve probably been watching it since it first showed up as a blip on the NHC map, but I have been blindsided on occasion, so I always appreciate a heads up.) I don’t mind being asked after the fact if everything is okay. (I may be perplexed at the question depending on how far away landfall was from my area, but I won’t mind!)

But there’s a reason I wrote a FAQ entry during Hurricane Irma. My job during hurricanes is to see to the safety of my family, and sometimes I just need to focus on my job.

And There It Is . . .

It’s not officially a “good” hurricane season around here until I wake up to a panicked e-mail/text from someone saying, “OMG! I just saw the news! Are you okay??!?!?!?!!?”

Mystery Solved

After a couple days of (to me) perplexingly worried inquiries about my safety regarding Ian, I decided to sit down and solve this little vexing mystery. Inquiries from those who only know my location as “Florida” or “South Florida” always get an automatic pass, of course, because that covers a lot of territory, so their inquiries are understandable. It was the inquiries from those who know my precise location that caused me to boggle and think, “We’re all watching the same storm track, right?”

And we were.

But *I* was also looking at the local conditions and forecasts for my specific area, and they weren’t.

So If You’re ANYWHERE Along The Path, Be Prepared

As I sit here with little else to do today but watch the path of the storm, I find myself considering just how deeply inland it looks like this one is going to be going. While obviously the coastal regions are going to be hit the hardest, I remember being inland and without power for two days in the wake of a storm smaller than this one because the city infrastructure simply wasn’t prepared for such conditions.

As Quickly And Calmly As Possible

In all of human history, I doubt there has ever been a disaster so big that there wasn’t at least one person that “didn’t see what the big deal is.”

Don’t be that person, and if they tell you to evacuate, do yourself and your family a favor and evacuate!

We’re Thinking Of You

This candle is for all those affected by Ida.

I Think She Was Making A Joke, But It Was Greek To Me

This needs to stop before this gets even an iota worse!

– L’s Mother upon hearing of the formation of Tropical Storm Zeta

I’m Going To Keep It Simple Today

This candle is for the Gulf Coast in the hopes that Sally leaves them alone A.S.A.P.