You know why Ernesto did not develop into a hurricane? Because, it's better to say "Storm Ernesto" than Hurricane Ernesto" Think of Poetry...
Well, Ernesto just passed over Palm Beach County, mildly so they say - only about 45 miles per hour wind. But we all readied our selves . The galoons of water, the generator filled up with gas after lining miles at the gasoline station, the rice and beans that "will never spoil' (if uncooked of course), the water in the tub in case we'll run out of water, the boarded window, ect. Thanks to wilma, we learned our lesson. Just wish, it's minus the panic, the rush, the anguish, the elbow to elbow at the grocery, and the quicky escape with a filled up gas tank (of course) even if it means 20 miles per hour crawling north in I-95 and the Florida Turn Pike. And the bonus! (because there is)...no work for those whose work are service-related, like me, as no walking patients would come to our department when there's hurricane. And the kids: no school. Like snow day up north - I remember a poem by Billy Collins called "Snow Day". Yup "the little nursery school is closed, all schools are closed..." and there's snow (it seems) but up in the sky(grin).
Before the storm, there was a wide flock of black birds migrating north, an ominous sign it seemed. And then I thought of the ducks at the canal near our house - last year with Wilma ravaging at a 100+/per hour wind, they were like soldiers out in the fields standing erect. It was sureal to watch them. And I wonder if where will they gonna be this time. And sure, I watched them this morning when the storm was over some miles away, they were cowering under the tree. Then I wonder, perhaps they know that the wind is not strong enough to break the twigs from the tree so they feel safe. Ducks are wise. And believe me, they are wiser than the young mother who drowed her children.
With the storm a storm and not a hurricane, thanks God, I know I won't have to cross a three - lane highway like a four-way-stop-sign. This is the most I dreaded with hurricanes. Four-way-stop-crossing the intersection of Forest Hill Blvd. and State Road 441 last year after Wilma at rush hours was like being in a war-torn country, and being extra careful for land mines.
I see my neighbor out there in his pool's deck. Happpier than last year. Now he has no screen to worry about. They say in South Florida, the best screen is "no screen" as well as the best tree is "no tree".
