Ducking The Storm...

Recently, we had the mother of all storms.
Lightning hit all around the area with deafening
cracks of thunder.

Our resident duck, Cruiser, wet and bedraggled,
had just made its third pass around the house,
hoping to beg Paul or me for a tortilla chip
or bread handout.

The noisiest crack sounded overhead, sending
Cruiser running like its tail feathers were on fire.
Cruiser! Fly duck, fly!

The storm dumped 2” of rain in 30 minutes--
Cruiser's contribution, 3 clumps…
Water on the lanai came almost up to the
sliding doors, before finally seeping through
the drain channels on the decking.
The rain lessened, but the boomers were still
making me jump.

Cruiser came back a few days later, its
butt-waddling, bobbing-headed self cruising
by the computer room window.
She caught sight of me and picked up her
webbed feet, swaggering to the front door.

This weekend is promising a tropical wave, due
to sweep Florida’s east coast over to Naples.
I better clue Cruiser in…

Altered States

Nothing much has happened with Florida's weather
this summer--it's been hotter than a witch's
butt these days. The National Hurricane Center
forecasts a "near normal" hurricane season for
the Atlantic, with a 25% chance of above-normal
outbreaks and 25% chance of below-normal outbreaks;
overall, forecasters expressed a greater degree of
uncertainty this year than they have in past years.
NOAA predicts a 70% chance of the following:

• Named storms: 9-14
• Hurricanes: 4-7
• Major hurricanes: 1-3

When we first arrived in Naples as new residents,
the thunderstorms came like clockwork nearly
every afternoon--tremendous "crackers".
The storms were so terrifyingly exciting, we
filmed them.
We looked forward to the skyward electrical displays.

I also kept a hurricane diary.
In August of 2004, we had our first hurricane.
Charley was frightening. Talk about Friday the 13th!
Paul and I watched the leading bands creep
up from the south until the early morning hours.
It was eerie and heart palpitating.

Charley finally hit with a force around
1:25 p.m., uprooting two trees from our front yard.
The back yard and the street was a lake.

We've been through at least 4 hurricanes
since Charley; the last two years have
been very quiet, except for a few tropical
downpours.
The weather has definitely changed, not only
in Florida, but in so many other regions of the country.

I'm looking out from the top floor window in the
Books-A-Million bookstore.
The gulf side is dark with a few lightning streaks.
Looks like rain may be coming after all.