trick or treat?

I popped in at nhc.noaa.gov to check on tropical cyclone activity, as we still have another month before this hurricane season is deemed to be over.

Just look what was waiting for me.

 

Is this a trick of the weather?

Sure, none of the three yellow marks indicate a hurricane.

None of them are even tropical storms yet.

Still, it gives me pause, especially the two below Savannah's latitude.

Those are from the areas that birthed the troublemakers this fall.

I just checked again and the new map shows the same prognostication.

Perhaps I'll let it be for a few days.

The site had shown an even worse scenario after Labor Day weekend.

 

There had been a chain of colored x's boding ill weather on September 5th.

My thought upon espying the image was "What the fresh hell is this?".

Then, a day or two later, every one of the problem areas had dissipated.

Poof! 

Just gone.

Here's hoping this trio will give us all a treat..

and vanish back into the air from whence they came.

milton, kirk, and leslie

The physicist and I have some of the most surreal textversations.

Case in point: the one from Sunday afternoon.

 

me: Just checking on you. How are you doing?

 

him: Hey thanks. Not too bad, I am working on a paper right now. What up with you?

 

me: Checking on Milton and Kirk and Leslie, making sure I know where they're headed.

 

[As of 11AM Monday, Hurricane Kirk was heading to Great Britain and France.]

 

[As of 11AM Monday, Hurricane Leslie was heading northwest toward the Sargasso Sea.]

 

[By 11 AM Tuesday, Hurricane Leslie was showing signs of dying right there, just as Hurricanes Lee and Margot had done last year.] 

 

[Then, at 11PM tonight, a curious thing was revealed: Hurricane Leslie had strengthened to Category 2 status and had turned toward the northeast.

That did not surprise me, as my monitoring of the NHC site foreshadowed that change.]

[Very early this morning, a low pressure system in the Atlantic - that orange X - had a 60% chance of becoming yet another tropical storm.]

 

[By 11AM this morning, Hurricane Milton, at Category 4 strength, was about to make landfall prior to charging across the width of central Florida. At that same time, the probability of that low pressure system strengthening dropped to 40%.]

 

[That probability dropped down to 10% twelve hours later as that low pressure system was caught between Hurricanes Milton and Leslie as Milton continued its charge east.]

 

[Hurricane Milton, by tonight a Category 2 after landfall, continued its speedy push toward the Atlantic coast of Florida.

I surmise that it was also pushing that former low pressure system, as well as Hurricane Leslie, across the Atlantic Ocean to send surf against west Africa.

I'll keep a close eye on both Milton and Leslie, but I feel safe in restocking the fridge.]

him: Are those the names of your brother's dogs?

me: LOL! Hurricanes. 

 

him: Oh those are storms. I literally just read an email from university communication saying they were keeping an eye on Milton.

him: The only Milton I can really think of was the writer.

me: This Milton is down in the gulf. The other two are out in the Atlantic. Kirk is sending surf to England (which I know Robb Worthington is going to love).

him: That's happened before. I think that was how the Spanish armada was destroyed... may be if I recall correctly.

 

I think he is correct on that.

That's the point in our conversation when we both decided a movie break would be good.

I've already hit on that earlier today.

(smile!)

snap to my rescue!!!

I've been thinking about applying for nutrition aid for a couple of years, but didn't.

Was I embarrassed about needing to do so?

No, that wasn't the issue.

Was I concerned about looking for a financial hand from the government?

Nope, that wasn't on my mind, either.

Was I possible thinking they might deny me the benefit?

Ding, ding, ding!

Yes, honestly, that was what I didn't want: to be told "No".

However, after spending time in Kissimmee with my first niece and seeing first-hand the many financial benefits of her having SNAP, I finally took the leap...

and they caught me with open arms!

Mine is called Senior SNAP - Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for those who are 60 years of age or older.

Not only was I approved, but the card has already arrived!

It even has funds already on it, ready to use!

I applied online in mid-September, and the approval is dated from that first application date, so the funds cover part of last month, plus this month in full.

i thank You, God!

 

I had just bought groceries before Hurricane Helene took out the power.

Having to throw out all that new food was so very hard on me.

I even used two bags of ice to try to save some of it, but to no avail.

Plus, all the other stuff in the fridge - sauces, dressings, minced garlic and herbs - all that extra stuff needed in bits and pieces for making a meal - all that had to be trashed, too.

Then there were the bags of frozen vegetables and the pork loin in the freezer... 

as well as two pork chops from the Texas Roadhouse Family Meal deal in early September... 

and an entire box of Outshine popsicles that had not even yet been opened.

I found out on October 1st that I was approved.

I fully expected that the hurricane would have delayed the processing of the EBT card, but maybe it didn't, as the card was waiting for me after my luncheon with Yvonne and her new neighbor, Toni.

Yvonne has been taking her around to local places, as Toni is from Long Beach, CA.

They've already done Kayak Kafe and Spanky's, but my fellow Armstrong Pirate didn't know about soul food at Geneva's!

This was my first time to the new location, off Skidaway instead of Victory, so I didn't know that water wasn't free.

But I knew to recommend the fried chicken and the cornbread to the newcomers!

Geneva's cornbread has been legendary for decades!

And, after our leisurely luncheon, I walked them around the building to enjoy the murals.

Very nice, aren't they?

Now, I'm going to make a list for the grocery story.

It'll be good to take advantage of soup sales with this cooler weather.

Then, I'm going to check on Hurricane Milton, in the Gulf.

No need to restock perishables if the electricity might go out, right?

But what a relief to know I have the funds from SNAP to do so,

when the time is right.

i thank You, God.

happy trio on my dance card

"Well, that's a nice change!" 

For sure, and one much needed after Hurricane Helene hustled through here, laying waste to trees and leaving folks powerless. 

Power crews from all over the southeast - and, rumor has it, from as far away as Canada - have been working from sunrise to sunset, nonstop. 

Folks didn't have an evacuation order this time, as Helene was supposedly to be running along the Georgia-Alabama border, only no one had cleared that with her.

That means that after all the hullabaloo was over in the wee small hours of Friday morning, Savannah and Chatham County were full of residents still.

No traffic lights, no electricity, and the only stores open were Home Depot and Lowe's.

Yikes.

That's what I found when I had ventured out Friday, hoping NCG Cinema was open.

Nope, it was not, so no "Megamind" for me.

Back home I went, and back home I stayed. 

The next day, about mid-afternoon, I went for a drive to charge my phone, but the charger died and went to hell.

I found myself all alone in the AMC parking lot, all its lights gone dark.

Although the traffic lights were out, KFC and Chick-Fil-A had been open for business.

So was Olive Garden!

So, there I stayed for a leisurely meal, with leftover Chicken Margherita for Sunday's breakfast, if I was lucky (and I was!).

Christina's Aunt Brenda was there, too, so I spoke with her a bit.

 

Then, on the way home, I drove past Tony and Laura's and pulled up in their driveway.

They had cooked ribs and were about to go to my house and give me some!

Instead, I came by later and watched the Georgia Bulldogs get trounced by the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Ouch.

Still, I know my brother enjoyed having me there to talk sports with him.

I enjoyed being there, too, with him and her.

And just how was it that we could do that?

They had a generator, and the media outlets were up and running, too.

 

Sunday, I went to Memorial Stadium, to fetch home two bags of free ice.

Laura had told me about it, so I had hopes of saving some of the perishables.

Nope, everything in the freezer was melting and had to be tossed.

I still had hope for the cheese, yogurt, and some other things in the fridge, so I worked on all of that, as well as cleaning all of surfaces, for about three hours.

Disheartened by having to throw away five bags of food, I went for a drive.

Hallelujah!!! The AMC was open!!!

John even plugged in my phone and let it charge for a while.

I stayed and watched "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" for the third time and had my spirits lifted.

(Hey, there's a pun in that line.. found it?)

Monday, I took myself to "The Wild Robot" again, with Sandy coming along.

This time, we watched in the Big-D, and I cried in the same places as I had before.

She very much liked it, too, and we met with Carolyn coming in as we were leaving.

And why was she there?

Partly because I'd let her know the cinema was open, but also to see that movie!

(She told me after that she very much liked it, too!)

 

Sandy and I tried to dine at Jason's Deli, but my order was so bad I returned it.

Dark was coming on fast, so she went home and I drove to Cici's.

Pizza, air conditioning, and "Nightmare Before Christmas" on the TV - perfect.

I sat right there and watched as the goblins tried "Making Christmas"...

and Sally tried to dissuade Jack from his plan...

and Santa was left with Oogie Boogie by Lock, Shock, and Barrel...

until Sally tried to rescue him, while Jack was being shot down as a fake Santa Claus.

Yes, I do so love that movie, and could hear the songs even with the sound off.

(smile!)

Then Laura texted: their power was on!

Dood even drove down to my house: my power was on, too!

And so it was.

Isn't that little yellow light the most beautiful thing in the world?

Yes, yes it is.

i thank You, God, and I thank Georgia Power, too.

Four days was too long for me this time, eight years after Hurricane Matthew.

That was different, though, as I was prepared for it.

I'll make damned sure to be better set should any other hurricanes come to visit.

Speaking of visit, I was expecting dinner and the new Coppola movie with the physicist.

That was to have been on Tina Tuesday.

However, J-Dawg has been having a rough go of it with his divorce.

We ended up sitting on the front porch steps for two hours instead.

Wednesday, we were to give it another go, as lunch and a movie, but that fell through on his end and I went ahead with my evening plans.

 

That left today to get in my third dance on this A*List, so I chose "Scarygirl" as my partner.

Good choice to go with the Australian flick from 2023!

I made sure to talk it up to Tom and Breeanna and they plan to see it now.

Like the other two movies on this A*List, the movie has a very good story, has excellent characters, and features voices that are not often heard.

"Scarygirl" also talks about being a 12-year-old foster kid, having physical differences from others, and the need to work together to solve problems.

Good messages in this post-hurricane, pre-election, state of Georgia.

scrabble in the dark

Remember the rules for hurricane play?

Okay, let us begin.

 

Friday afternoon, Game 1: 

wax - fawn - hoof - 

both - rioter - slur - 

axis - lore - spoil - 

shivs - lounge - grain - 

atria - rouge - gram - 

neater - matey - big - 

veer - depend - quo - 

punt - tack - pew - 

jaw - fancy - lend - 

doe - id - in - sez - 

lower - in - if

 

"Sez" was questionable, but all tiles were used.

That counts as a game "won" by the Right Hand and the Left Hand.

After Po' Girl Ceviche, I played again.

 

Friday evening, Game 2:

form - gram - ride - zone - haze - 

dove - coat + to - riders - jig - kept -

gifs - quid + do - ruin - knits - fawn -

baby - deny - colt - suet + tot - pacts - 

shoal -deal - trued - soon - wee - 

toy - meany - vim - rail - lava - tote - 

up - green - lie - sex - hi

Very nice, a second win!

Plus, Miyah lost a tooth.

Later that night I played again, after a 30-minute drive in the dark to charge my phone. 

 

Friday night, Game 3:

vowel - navy - bray -

beetle - forge - cider -

wooden - trainee - roomie -

waits - smoky - aloha -

idea - tile - jars -

joint - aura - faith -

squats - beet - egg -

gain - if - point - ha - do

Yikes - ten tiles left; major fail.

Saturday morning, I realized the problem may have been that Right Hand started out with "vowel" (its first word) running vertically instead of on the horizontal.

After shifting the tiles for a horizontal start, that resulted in "point" not being possible off the "i" in "gain".

Thirty minutes later I had 7 new words (exit - hand - zip - dot - up - us) on the board.

The game still was a loss, but only one tile - a "v" - was left unplaced.

That was a marked improvement.

That was also a lesson learned about the importance of placement of the initial word.

Saturday night, after watching football with Tony and Laura, I played a fresh game before bed.

Saturday, late, Game 1 of day:

clone - bearer - stub - deacon -

rail - exit - adore - mothy - owl -

voter - edit - fret - may - chain -

lows + to - mere - gap + ego + ran -

foes - gape - gaze - toga - qua -

chaining - zoo - in - square - in - 

pout - stove - jam + Maya - tibia - 

kin - led - eons - id

Such an interesting set of words!

Plus, the game was a win...

or so I thought.

Sadly, the morning light of Sunday revealed "deacon" had been misplaced on the board as "d-a-e-c-o-n".

After making the correction, several words had to be eliminated (gap-ego-ran, gape, kin, led, and id).

Drats.

 

New words were formed from the recovered tiles:

gild - keg - pal - uh - en - en

The game was still a "win", as all tiles were used.

But, just look at that ugly board!!!

So much empty space at the top left!

After cleaning the now-empty refrigerator, I went into the sunshine... and to a movie!!!

Then, as darkness fell, it was again time to play Scrabble.

Sunday night, Game 1:

bison - shad - halo - axe - need -

pipe - wine - pig - comb - tong -

crack - qui - aerie - waxed + id -  

quite - vine - ideas - ell - easy - 

taze - soft - jaunt - feint - grunt - 

dairy - rev - soy - drums - early - 

bop - tar - green - it - oaf + no

All tiles used up, too!

Very nice to go out on a win.

I had hoped that would be my last 

game in the dark, and it was, thankfully, 

as power was restored Monday just past dark o'clock.

Each game took about 60 to 75 minutes to play.

No scoring was done; that would have taken too long.

The goal was simply to use all tiles.

I'm so glad I had this game to while away the dark hours!

hanging with helene hurrying thither

The last thing I did before I left home today was check in with NHC.

Hurricane Helene isn't forecast to cut a swath to us, but she'll be dumping tons of water.

See that white-headed curve facing toward the west?

Think of that as an Amazonian woman with very long hair, rising up out of the Gulf and shaking those waters out of her thick tresses.

Yeah, that's what we have in our immediate future, as do the Carolinas and Virginia.

Hopefully she won't do it in slow motion like that other one did.

We're expected to get 4 to 6 inches of rain, but that won't be as bad as the mountains are going to see.

Still, I have no intention of being out in it, nor dealing with the accompanying winds.

I have until 8 PM to get done what I want to get done on this Thursday!

Timetable in hand and head, off I went!

First stop: AMC Cinema!

I'd taken advantage of my A*List status to make a reservation to see "The Wild Robot" in Real D 3-D!

Ever since I first saw the previews for it, I've been super excited about it.

Remember how much I loved MAV1S?

Well, this version of android sounds like a robot akin to her.

I was hoping for the best...

and having a pepperoni pizza, too.

(smile!) 

I had another motive for seeing "The Wild Robot", though, in this format.

I wanted that bonus kit so I could build my own Rossum-7134.

How sweet is that???

Tom made sure I got one, as well as the others there this afternoon.

And how was the last dance on this week's A*List?

Sweetly memorable, one to hold close and gently twirl on the floor before bringing back for another close and gentle hold... perfect.

Truly, it was perfect.

Beautiful story about love and friendship and change, with elements of scarier aspects of life gently sprinkled in...

fabulous characters with that touch of being real, not caricatures...

wonderful voices of actors heard too seldom, like Mark Hamill and Ving Rhames, as well as the talented Lupita Nyong'o who can imbue any work of fiction with heart and soul.

I cried three times, it moved me so.

I will absolutely be seeing that one again next week.

(smile!)

Afterward, I popped over to Staples for a new ink cartridge for the printer.

AARP had rewarded me twice with gift cards for the points I've earned with questionnaires.

That netted me a total of $15 off the genuine HP ink - hooray!

Then I walked over to AutoZone, as AllState had gifted me a $7 off $30 coupon.

Lord knows my girl has a drinking problem!

So now she'll have another quart, as well as a new windshield wiper blade.

Yes, just one; I rarely have a passenger, so okay if that side is not so good.

(smile!)

What else did I have a discount or freebie for?

Oh, yes: a flu shot and the latest COVID-19 booster!

Not only will UHC pay for those for me, but they'll reward me with $5 to spend elsewhere.

Plus, as I went to CVS for the shots, that store gave me a coupon for $5 off $20!

That was perfect for using with a $4 Ensure coupon... all money that stayed in my pocket!

 

What a perfect way to finish out my day of fun!

And what should I see on the telly when I switched it on?

That 'mercial with John Legend that had encouraged me to get a flu shot!

(smile!)

Then, about 10 PM, the tornado sirens started singing around my neighborhood, performing duets and trios as they drove me to distraction.

I do so loathe tornados.

The only thing in their favor is how intensely brief they are.

A minute, maybe two, and they are gone, leaving destruction all around.

I prepared my tornado shelter: the innermost hall closet, with a suitcase to sit on, a bagged blanket to protect me, my bag of medicines, and the solar lamp from Cathy in California.

That light may be the most important item there, to preserve my sanity as the tornado sirens wailed their scary threats for the next 90 minutes.

 

I had to turn off the sound from the TV.

It was much more important to listen for the sound of a train barreling outside my door.

It was much more important to listen for the sound of the rain against the windows.

 

Hurricane Helene is huge, just huge, and her northeast edge was throwing out continuous streams of tornados across three states... including Georgia.

Hope I won't lose electricity before she gets gone.

Helene has winds up to 140 mph, making her a Category 4 - and, as seen in this Wind Arrival diagram from NHC, her reach is the worst I've ever seen.

That was posted at 11 PM.

I'm planning to check again at 2 AM on her progress.

At least she isn't lingering.

No, she's hustling along at 24 mph, like she has a hot date lined up in Tennessee.

Yes, I jest, but that's an effort to stay calm.

Here's hoping for the best, here and elsewhere.

a day with debby

As of 11 PM last night, the swirling mass had finally attained the status of respect she wanted.

 

Debby was officially a hurricane, with sustained winds of 75 mph, the minimum requirement needed.

 

She was rocking along at 12 mph in the warm Caribbean waters and heading in to nestle within Florida's gently curving arm.

I went to bed a little later to the sound of rain, but knew the Hurricane 1 status would be a thing of the past once Debby made landfall.

I woke about 6:30 and could not go back to sleep, so I tuned in for Bill and his fish.

Ticker trails above and below the image cast forbidding warnings to all about the approaching storm.

Soon after 8 AM, I checked NHC.NOAA.ORG for a status update.

She was only then making landfall and was still Hurricane Debby.

 

Her speed had slowed down to 10mph and those 75 mph winds were lashing the Florida coast and surrounding areas down to Kissimmee with rain.

 

That rain extended all to way here, to Savannah.

 

I could still see the oak tree across the street, so that was good.

When I checked NHC at 11 AM, the monster had a name change in place: Tropical Storm Debby.

Why did I say monster?

She still packed sustained winds of 70 mph, but had slowed down to 8 mph as she traveled inward.

Debby had been lashing out at Tallahassee as it cut its swath, reaching it around 2 PM.

Concerned, I contacted my blue-sky cousin to see if she was safe.

Penny assured me they were all fine, getting only 0.5" of rain and some wind, but never losing power.

That was such good news!!!

Here, though, the tornado sirens were going off, starting about 3 PM.

That had been the first alert.

By the time of the above message on TV, the tornado sirens had sounded their alarm 4 times in my neighborhood.

When the second one had gone off around 3:30 PM, I readied a space to hunker down: an interior closet with space for me and my medicines, in the hall.

I took out the vacuum cleaner, but left the suitcase, thinking it might provide a seat or cushion, and I left the door open, so I could quickly run in.

Was that the sound of an approaching train?

 

Was that horizontal rain striking the living room window?

 

I knew those signs well.

 

After all, I'd been through a tornado when I worked for my brother Smitty, then again for Hurricane Matthew, and I am terrified of them.

Thankfully, the fifth, and final, siren went off here in Thunderbolt area about 6:30 PM.

 

Debby made it to Waycross by 8 PM, dragging her heels at 6 mph, but at least the winds had quieted - if that's the right word - to 45 mph.

This is the radar image of the monster at 10 PM, and, yes, monster she is.

Stretching all the way out to Macon, Augusta, and Myrtle Beach - all of which are at least three hours from my house - and well into the Atlantic Ocean, Debby is likely three hundred miles wide.

That reminds me of a something I saw on fb on Pat Prokop's page.

 

He had posted the image from NHC as well as his forecasts and warnings.

A woman asked him, "I see the line doesn't go through Savannah. Does that mean we'll be safe?"

He responded, "NO!!! The system is more than 200 miles wide!!! We are definitely getting hit!"

As I told my first niece, people can be so science-illiterate. 

 

At least my students would have known better than to ask that question.

 

Here, we had massive flooding all over town, including something I don't recall ever hearing happen before: the pond at Daffin Park overflowed onto Victory Drive.

That's because we had SIX INCHES of rain today.

Here's a bit of perspective: Savannah usually gets about FIVE inches of rain per summer month.

They've forecast another 4 to 7 inches of rain tomorrow.

Meanwhile, when one of my neighbors asked on Sunday if we needed to get sandbags from the city, I told them this.

"I've lived here since 2001 and even during Hurricane Matthew we did not have flooding. Allegheny backs up sometimes, as does Timberline between DeRenne and Redland, plus Timberline between Skidaway and Pine Valley. The water buildup on Timberline is due to the slopes of the road in that area, but it usually clears in a timely manner."

Let's hope that continues to hold true.

Meanwhile, Savannah is under curfew until 6 AM.

Get this: some twit asked Mayor Van Johnson if that meant all would be safe then.

"No, it means it will be daylight and we can see the hazards."

Science-illiteracy... seriously.

Now, I'm going to bed, to the sounds of strong wind and hard rain, still going as they have been for almost two hours.

Here's hoping tomorrow's gonna be a brighter day, as Jim Croce would say.

"Nobody ever had a rainbow, baby, until he had the rain."

two hurricanes, two days later

When I last reported on hurricane Lee, it was still moseying along northward at only 7 mph.

 

48 hours later, it has picked up speed.

 

Now zooming along with the North Atlantic Current, it's literally racing at 20 mph!

 

And what about its maximum sustained winds?

 

They're down from 105 mph to 80 mph and are well away from any landfall.

 

How about Margot?

 

That one was never as strong as Lee to begin with, and wandering into the Sargasso Sea didn't help its situation.

 

Literally, Margot is spinning in circles, losing both rate of travel (7 mph to 5 mph) as well as wind power (85 mph to 65 mph) along the way.

Here's hoping the doldrums catch any other hurricanes heading east.