As the Hurricane passes the Caribbean enroute a close-aboard pass of the US East Coast, my heart goes out to the people of the Bahamas. They suffered repeated blows from Hurricane Dorian, the scourge of cable news for the last week or so. Dorian stalled, making only a mile-an-hour progress to the northwest and seemed prepared to settle in, pummeling the island with Force Five winds and pervasive storm surge.

Finally, the storm moved on and diminished, picking up speed and setting a track to make a close pass on the Carolinas, still packing hundred-knot winds. It appears our little slice of heaven in Northern Virginia may get just a taste of things on the very margin. I will avoid predictions with a possibility of jinxing a cautiously optimistic forecast heading into the weekend.

We lived long enough in Jacksonville for me to honestly state that if I ever start talking about restoring classic cars again, or moving to Florida, they should just exercise their 2nd Amendment rights and put me out of my misery right there and then.

We got brushed here by Hurricane Isabel in DC a few years ago- impressive guests but no significant damage. Out in Hawaii, the eyewall of Hurricane Ewa passed directly over the little house on Pearl Harbor at McGrew Loop. Impressive as it passed over and then the rain starting coming through the the jalousie windows.

The best storm of my life was Typhoon Tip, the most powerful tropical storm to hit southern Japan in October of 1979. The Navy decided to send us to sea for storm avoidance. If you have never seen sheets of green water thrown up way over the bow of an aircraft carrier, your life may be the poorer. But if my dealing years see poverty on the storm front, I will take it.

If I was down in the Carolinas, I am sure I would be having a wonderful time and wishing you were there. As far as The Swamp is concerned, I am betting Dorian doesn’t make much of a ripple. Congress is back this week to inflict themselves on the citizenry. These brackish waters by the Potomac run deep.

Copyright 2019 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com