Dec 17 - Nature Settles Down

The National Weather Service got folks a little excited yesterday and last night, as they predicted a good chance of heavy thunderstorms and high winds for the overnight hours. They added to the effect by using the T word (tornado) in every update too. Of course, we're sitting right in the middle of the affected area in central Alabama.

Dar made sure we had a "go-to" spot all picked out in the event she decides to issue an evacuate order, bail out, and seek safety near something a little more substantial. She determined her best spot is next to a concrete bridge (not under it... no good you know) in a ravine just a few steps from our door. And my best spot, I determined, is next to her. I mean... she IS the Safety Director.

Of course the whole thing was a bust. It rained quite a bit... in fact it rained much of the day. But the only thunder we heard was weak and distant, the only wind was a gust here and there, and the only tornadoes were on the big screen... if you happened to be watching The Wizard of Oz.

Yes, it's a good thing we weren't in the news this morning. These guys and gals have a tough job... predicting what nature is going to do with a complicated set of inputs. But I gotta tell ya', I think they err on the side of predicting the worst case at times of uncertainty. Better to have people overly alert than to have them sleeping when things turn dangerous. But you know the old story about crying wolf too many times.

Tomorrow, Tuesday, looks like a good day to make the move over toward Demopolis Alabama and the Tombigbee River and Waterway.

I've added a few posts, out of sequence, to fill in the gaps from the last week or two. And I'll be adding a couple more before I'm caught up. On the off chance you'd be interested, look through the post archive from earlier in December for posts you may have missed.