How's The Weather Up There...?

An air of expectation hangs over the island, as worry furrows the brows of those bent on preparation. Ivan (the "Rat Bastard") has left his mark. Even if I have some sense that Dean may be a passing silent fart, (all things being relative), my expectations hang in the balance, as I know that I am, and will always be, subject to Mother Nature’s whims. She can be a real mercurial bitch when she is ready. Here I am, living it up in the month of August, falling back into my sense of complacency that the Rat Bastard had disrupted when he passed through my life, and then, Madame decided to humble me with the threat of Dean. She has dispatched another one of her Enforcers to remind me of her far reaching capabilities, especially since my kind have abused and neglected her in so many ways. She is now bent on vengeance.

Yet, as I track each breath of movement from this probable usurper; as I battle my way through the lines of the supermarkets, and coordinate the purchase of items for me to batten down the hatches, and to live in relative comfort should I need to take refuge, I know that I am not alone. Dean and his whereabouts dominate the topic of all conversation, as we all get ourselves into a state of preparedness. Supermarkets are packed; cars are moved to higher ground; information is being disseminated like wildfire; plywood and shutters are being off loaded and inspected at individual residences…and it all gives me a strange sense of detached pride for my island and its peoples. Ivan was a hard lesson learned but, we learned our lesson. No one wants to be caught off guard again.

And, more humorously, everyone is a weatherman. We can discuss vectors, air currents, projected paths, latitude and longitude, and Caribbean geography better than the crappy reporters on the weather channel, with a Caribbean flair. Weather is watched more vigorously during the season, than a pervert watches porn. Everyone has a story to tell as to how the Rat Bastard has impacted their lives, some with an entertaining and dramatic flair. We now wait to see what Dean does.

And on that note, I shall now exit. Happy flicking birthday to me!

Toodles.