Surviving Ernesto.....

Here's the satellite image of Ernesto as he sits right off the coast, slowly moving northward. I've gotten a few calls from concerned family worried about the weather here. Well, most of them were from my Dad, but a little while ago, my brother, Austin, called on his drive up to Indiana, where he goes to college. Basically, all we've gotten so far is rain. There are occasionally gusts of wind, but mostly it's just been sprinkling for most of the day. So far, the flooding isn't too bad, but the big puddle I photographed here is slowly accumulating, and I suspect will get very large before the day is over. The rain did pick up a little while ago. Unfortunately for me this coincided with the time the coffee shop where I was studying decided to close for the day worried about the weather getting worse. So I had to walk home in a steady rain. Thankfully, I was wearing my Marmot Precip jacket, which is this great, lightweight raincoat that keeps me very, very dry. At least, it keeps the parts of me that are covered by the jacket dry. Unlike my pants. Which are now fairly wet in the front. For walking around in a near-tropical storm, I also recommend just wearing some flip flops. This doesn't sound like too good an idea, but it's not cold here, and it doesn't matter if they get wet. Plus they will dry quickly. Umbrellas, on the other hand, are not such a great idea, at least when the winds pick up. The rain just blows in underneath, and then the umbrella can get turned inside out. (This does actually happen in real life, not just in cartoons.) Other good ideas.....when walking along the sidewalk, try to stay as far from the road as possible. The huge puddles that accumulate at the edge of the road often get sprayed outward by passing cards, and if you aren't careful....you will get soaked. (Yet another phenomenon that actually happens in real life, not just in cartoons or movies where someone is having an incredibly bad day.)


Or you could just ignore my advice and talk to this guy I saw walking on my way home. He was walking along the sidewalk, dressed only in his WETSUIT. He was also carrying some coffee. On yeah...he, too, was wearing some flip flops. I guess you can't be too prepared.....