Between A Rock and A Wet Place

Because of my experience 3 years ago today when, at pretty much the last minute I grabbed my landlord's dog and my landlord's van and beat it (very very SLOOOOWLY) north to Hattiesburg MS to ride out Katrina, and because of my care for and concern for so many people still in The Crescent City, I worry A LOT about what goes on during hurricane season.

This morning however, checking to see the status of Gustav, I caught this image from the National Hurricane Center and thought... YOW! My sister, aunts, cousins and friends on the east coast of Florida, The Pirate and his family on the west coast of Florida and even some new friends I just met the other day in wine country, are sitting smack dab in the middle of a tropical onslaught that's going to be ugly no matter how you look at it. Folks from Cuba and the Caribbean and pretty much all points north are looking at a one two punch like nobody's seen in quite some time. This is what life in the tropics during the late summer is really all about.