Monday, July 01, 2013

shave and a haircut -- six inches


Dalila is on her way.

Not the shear-wielding, follicle fetishist.  But one of our early season tropical storms.  I would prefer a visit from Hedy Lamarr.


That is Dalila hogging the lower left of the shot -- high on her tie-dyed color scheme.  And that is me closer to the top.  Standing in her path with my orange stick that looks far too much like a bull's eye to my rather paranoid eyes.

The storm is projected to wander up the west coast of Mexico and then veer off into the Pacific without making landfall.  That is good news because the storm's sustained winds of 45 MPH could raise some havoc.  And they will for some ships at sea.

But there will be rain.  Late on Sunday night, the rain started.  Probably a secondary consequence of the storm.  Weather activity this large tends to stir up the atmosphere like a Waring blender.  The early rain has undoubtedly come from a smaller pattern coming south from inland Mexico.  That fuchsia bit at the top.

Monday morning will bring news of just how much rain the storm will give Melaque.  The estimates are large enough that they seem to have come from Noah, rather than NOAA.

Most of the tropical storms and hurricanes that have come our way have not been wind threats -- at least, recently.  But heavy rains?  That is a different story.

One of the fascinating features of my GPS is an altimeter.  As I drive through town, there are several places below sea level.  One of these Death Valley holes is in the central area of San Patricio.  Not surprisingly, it tends to accumulate rain water.  What we country boys from Oregon call "flooding."

I have a selfish interest in that term.  Living on the shore of a laguna -- a pool that captures the drainage from the mountains at our back here on the narrow spit of sand I call home -- makes me a bit sensitive to rising tides that lift all crocodiles.

I will be up at the dawn's early light to see if I have become one step closer to being with nature.


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