Wednesday, June 22, 2011

not even zasu pitts


Have you ever felt stood up?  And by someone who was going to add a little zest to your life?


I do.


I was supposed to have a date with Beatriz on Tuesday afternoon.  And I do not mean the type of Beatriz who would chat on – at length – about her creation Peter, or the Dutch queen who would let me know my favorite suite at Brown’s was named after her grandmother – before being renovated.  The hotel.  Not her grandmother


The Beatriz I had in mind was the blustery hurricane that was supposed to rival Lear on the heath – with score by Richard Wagner.  It didn’t happen.


If you need the numbers, here is what my land lady had to report.

These are the stats from our Davis Weather Station on the beach in Villa Obregón, as of 1:00pm Tuesday:

Total precipitation from the storm: .40 inch
Total precipitation since midnight: .28 inch
Highest wind gust on Monday: 31mph
Highest wind gust on Tuesday: 23 mph
Currently not raining, wind 4 mph, temp 80 F, barometer steady at 29.75.

.40 inches of rain?  23 mph for a high gust of wind?


I have experienced more excitement listening to a sales presentation by a life insurance salesman.


So, no power outage.  No loss of internet.  No flying lawn chairs.  No coconut palms crashing onto the Shiftless Escape.


But there is that half inch of rain.  And it is a small down payment on our late rainy season.  When I got up this morning, the swallows were out in full force on the laguna.  I am assuming there must have been a large hatch of insects.  Mainly mosquitoes, if my patio is any indicator.


Even so, I am a bit wistful.  We could have made a great couple.


Maybe – next time.


22 comments:

Felipe Zapata said...

Sounds like you have never been in the middle of a full-tilt hurricane. It's nothing to wish for, I promise you. And while we're on the subject, if another one is on the horizon, you don't wait till the last minute to shop for supplies because the supplies will be gone from the shelves.

Carolyn said...

You always seem to add a sobering message to Steve's exuberance. just saying.

Felipe Zapata said...

On some occasions, Carolyn, I enjoy playing the yin to his yang, or is it the other way around?

sparks said...

But it rained all last night so I'm sure the totals are up.   Even found a crab in the house this morning so the ground is pretty well saturated.  I hope the excitment level over hurricanes does not say something about our normal life here.

Looks like the remains of Beatriz is just sitting off shore ... so more rain

Marc Olson said...

Sounds as if it was a good drill. Next time you will be able to prepare smarter and more efficiently, I suspect. In 2005, right after I moved into my house in Mérida fulltime we had a pretty good hurricane scare. I readied the house...and nothing happened. It was a lot of work but it wasn't for nothing. I learned a heck of a lot about what to do and what not to do.

Irene said...

Anticipation is sweeter.

Babsofsanmiguel said...

Count your blessings that you didn't have a full tilt hurricane.  The water in your house, the mud and silt, the lack of electricity for weeks and lack of food not to mention the damage for the poor people, is something that doesn't need to be wished for.
Glad you're safe...........and sound?

NWexican said...

You want 100 mph winds and two feet of rain? Come on back to Oregon and spend  a day or two at the coast.

Steve Cotton said...

I have never suffered through a hurricane.  But I was in the Columbus Day Storm that struck without warning and left hurricane destruction in its path.  I would just as soon not get stuck in another.

Steve Cotton said...

Well, someone has to be the adult in these conversations.

Steve Cotton said...

I was thinking more that you played Bud to my Lou.

Steve Cotton said...

While I was typing last night around 2, three land crabs were scraping at the screen door to get inside.  I think you are correct.  They have had enough of the rain.

As for our excitement about the weather, I fear you may be correct.  After all, we can get our fun out of watching paint dry for just so long.

Steve Cotton said...

Other than buying food supplies and taking care of the outside items, there is little to be done.  Other than buying a generator -- and I have thought about that.

Steve Cotton said...

Just like dating.

Steve Cotton said...

Safe, yes.  Sound?  Well, that is always a matter of opinion.

Steve Cotton said...

Come to think of it, that was one of the reasons I almost rtired on the Oregon coast.  The big reason I didn't was the boredom factor.  Not that Melaque is a finalist in the excitement category.

NWexican said...

Yeah, I too enjoy that, once every millennium. Then again, I am from SoCal where the desert meets the sea. I do miss a good lightening storm though.

Steve Cotton said...

We have amazing thunderstorms down here.

Felipe Zapata said...

Steve, there are, of course, hurricanes and then HURRICANES. I have been in just one, and it was the latter. Betsy in 1965 in New Orleans where I had just moved at the tender age of 20. 

Many people think they are just very big storms, which they are, of course, but they are much more. And many people think they are fun or interesting to experience. They are not. TV news clips often show billboards flapping back and forth or trees whipping about, but these clips are taken during moments in which standing in a doorway or a window with a camera seem reasonable. But there are other moments, long ones, in which standing near a door or window or walking outside is sheer insanity. It is beyond imagination what a full-blown hurricane is like during the midst of it.

This depends surely on the size of the particular storm and where specifically a person is. In the middle or on the outskirts just getting grazed.

During Betsy I had my car parked on the street. Later I found holes in the metal where rocks or whatever had penetrated like bullets.

Point is that it's nothing to take lightly especially on a coastline. And don't wait till the last moment to hunt supplies. Better yet, head inland.

Steve Cotton said...

You are correct.  I have never been in a big one.  But I helped clean up after Andrew destroyed our base at Homestead.  I do not want to go through anything like it.

Kim G said...

Every couple of years a particularly bold and forceful hurricane makes it all the way north to threaten Massachusetts.  Of course, being a somewhat conscientious person, I put all my lawn furniture into the garage, make sure any other potentially flying object is stored away, or lashed down, and then stay home if things look threatening.  Since I live right on the bay, I'm as exposed as you're likely to get in Boston.  I take the National Hurricane Center quite seriously.

And what happens?

Every time, NOTHING! Maybe a little rain and a breeze.  Just like your "hurricane."  My friends think I'm a paranoid worrywart. (Perhaps people who read these comments agree, LOL.)  But I'd rather be prepared than watch all my lawn furniture flying around at 80 MPH crashing into god-knows-what.

So I know how you feel... this vague sense of disappointment coupled with the relief that no real damage was sustained.

Saludos,

Kim G
Boston, MA
Where as a student living in Houston in the 80's, the same thing kept happening.

Steve Cotton said...

It must be those odd urges inside of us.  First, there must be order.  Then, mix in the chaos.  I understand the Jungian archetype.