Tropical cyclones are at the same time exciting, frightening and boring. If you could only see Beth and I right now. We've been sitting around glued to CNN and The Weather Channel, as well as our local news channel, watching as Gustav bears down on Louisiana. From 4 am to 9 am, we were under constant tornado warnings. We've seen gusts up to 45 mph here and a couple of inches of rain.
Yesterday evening we drove out to the beach and took a walk on the pier. I wish I'd had my video camera. The clouds were amazing. The surf was big -- not huge -- but building and the wind picked up quite a bit as we stood with dozens of others watching dolphins play. We also saw some really cool jellyfish, a ray and a huge sea turtle.
The cool thing about a hurricane or tropical storm is how it brings a community together. The parking lot at the beach was quite full and as we walked over the boardwalk to the beach we were struck by the number of people standing at the water's edge, talking with one another, sharing stories, sharing lives.
Before the storm, wherever you go, whether the supermarket, a restaurant, a hardware store, it's what people are talking about. "Be safe," is a common replacement for "goodbye." You find people helping others in making preparations to their homes.
After the storm, you find rampant acts of kindness and neighborliness. It's really rather remarkable.
But I'm bored at the moment. There's that whole mix of wanting to see something dramatic happen on the TV coverage of the storm, but not wanting the dramatic thing to happen because you know it directly affects another person's life in a negative way. Does that happen to you?
Guess I'll go eat lunch now.
And watch some more Anderson Cooper and Jim Cantore.
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