That time of year again...

Okay, so for most people, June 1st is just another day. However thanks to the little buddy above here named Ivan, people around here including myself begin to get a little nervous. June 1st marks the beginning of Atlantic hurricane season. It marks the beginning of watching the news everynight to get the report on the tropics, making sure you have everything you need just in case, and daily logging onto websites like accuweather, intellicast, and NOAA just in case they announce something is coming your way. There has always been something about hurricanes that have intrigued me...even before we moved here I remember sitting at home watching Ivan hit the area that I now call home. And for the next six months I'll be dilligently watching and waiting to see what happens. Hurricanes still intrigue me, and I am hypnotized by the coverage, and will watch again this year, but I am hoping that we don't have to skip town this year like we did last. We stayed for the tropical storms, left for Dennis and stayed for Katrina. Imagine what it is like here without power during the summer...not fun! I know Katrina was over 200 miles away from us, but the big old oaks in from of our house were still leaning pretty heavily...so I get a little nervous. Now we are probably somewhat okay where we are at. We won't have pics like these where we live...at least we shouldn't...


It's really weird in that I can take you to these exact spots downtown now....hard to imagine what it was like after Ivan hit. However, where we are at (9 miles north of the water line) we have to worry about the tornados that pop up from the side storms. I have never liked bad storms and imagine what it is like when you are under a tornado warning for 6 1/2 hours. That to me is a little strange. In Ohio, if we have a tornado warning, you go hide for the 45 minutes or so that you have it...what am I supposed to do for 6 1/2 hours? We just stayed in the main room and listened to the coverage on the radio.

Well I imagine we'll make it through this year like we did last. It is hard to tell what is to come. We can pretty much be guaranteed of at least one storm hitting the gulf coast. You know I wouldn't wish a hurricane on anyone (and how do you pray for a hurricane not to hit you-you don't want it to hit anyone else do you-except maybe Michigan for you wolverine fans), but I thought hurricanes were supposed to hit the carolinas and the east coast? Why us? I guess the Gulf is a giant magnet for hurricanes with its warm summer water. That is why you go to bed with a cat 1 storm and wake up to a cat 5.

So I'll be off to Wal-Mart to get the rest of our supplies today including bottled water, batteries, and some more needed stuff and we'll "hunker" down if we need to, but it's that time of year again...
Hopin I don't wake up in OZ...

-Matt