Batten down the hatches

[BoSoxGal]

I love four seasons and winter makes spring all the lovelier; also, after many years in Maine and Montana, Massachusetts winter seemed rather mild. There is always the hassle of snow and I miss the dry, easily shoveled and scraped snow of plains Montana - but on balance, this is the place I love best.

I think that probably has a lot to do with 398 years of roots, as it feels very much like south coast Massachusetts is in my bloodstream. Not so much the contemporary culture, but the history of the place and the quirks of the ecosystem here - the sounds and smells of natural life in the Taunton River watershed or the salt marshes of the Cape reach me at a very visceral level.

I've been blessed to live a lot of beautiful places, each fantastic in its own right - California definitely makes the list as I was lucky to visit there often. Not as much in Northern California, but I did find it to be gorgeous country the few times I saw it. There is SO much beauty in this country, we really are very lucky to have such a diversity of breathtaking landscapes. There's just something extra special about home.

[dales]

There is SO much beauty in this country, we really are very lucky to have such a diversity of breathtaking landscapes.

Even with cheeto head as POTUS.

[rubato]

I'll take an earthquake, which you can build for, over a tornado, a hurricane, or a flood any day. Mud slides are a fascinating problem in S. Cal. and you will have to read John McPhee on the subject to appreciate it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Control_of_Nature

"Fire season" is a state-wide phenomenon and if you live in woodlands or heavy chapparal the only thing you can do is prepare. And pray you don't live in a Republican enclave (like San Diego where they refused to pay for fire protection, planes and helicopters to put fires out or even good preparation like clearing brush) and paid the price with terrible firestorms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Fire_(2003)

" we don't like taxes " Idiots.

yrs,
rubato

[RayThom]

Hey, you meatballs, here's some spaghetti being served up by Irma.

[Lord Jim]

You'd rather live in Wisconsin? Seems like a fair trade to me.

That reminds me of an old Cafe Darte experience..

Some of you may remember Doc Brown...

(Very bright fellow; had a problem with the concept of Free Will...)

When I met up with him and some other Cafe Darties at a FtF in LA a number of years ago, he showed me a picture of his house...

A beautiful five bedroom home with two, (yes two) maple trees on his half acre property...

For which he and his missus had paid $250,000...(this was back in the late 90s)

Doc Brown lived in Cleveland...

Even back then it would have cost five or six times as much to have anything like that in The Bay Area...

I described the deal Doc had to The Queen Mum (who at that time was not my MIL; just my girlfriend's mother..though she was pushing us together...)

And she said:

"That sounds great; but you'd have to live in Cleveland...Do you want to live in Cleveland?"

[BoSoxGal]

But, Cleveland rocks!

A Montana friend just shared this on his Facebook page, and I wanted to share it here:




Pray for rain!

[Sue U]

Hey, you meatballs, here's some spaghetti being served up by Irma.

Okay, so there is at least one trajectory that shows Irma hitting Toronto. Scooter, do you have enough gin/vodka/bourbon and/or plywood?

[Scooter]

I'm pretty well stocked on beverages and if it comes to it I can drink them sitting in my bathtub because my bathroom has no windows to blow out.

[Bicycle Bill]

Okay, so there is at least one trajectory that shows Irma hitting Toronto. Scooter, do you have enough gin/vodka/bourbon and/or plywood?

If you trace back that Toronto trajectory it shows Irma coming ashore on the eastern side of Florida somewhere around the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area and then remaining over land as it travels north and west, supposedly impacting large parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and finally Toronto.  Knowing how rapidly tropical storms weaken once they leave their point of origin/source of their power (the ocean), even if one could rise to a previously unheard-of Cat 6 or Cat 7 level the possibility of any hurricane packing enough of a wallop to be much more than a heavy rainstorm by the time it hit the Ohio River valley is about the same as winning the Powerball drawing twice in successive weeks.

Now, if she were to hook a hard right and stay out to sea — building into that mythical 'Cat 7' storm — until somewhere around the Delmarva peninsula and then make a beeline across Pennsylvania and western New York state, *THEN* perhaps Toronto might feel the pain.  But I daresay that particular scenario would be more like winning the Powerball THREE times in a row.

Louisville, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Toronto have nothing to fear so far as Irma or her remnants go.  In fact, most likely nothing north of perhaps Atlanta has a thing to worry about.

-"BB"-

[Lord Jim]

if it comes to it I can drink them sitting in my bathtub

Sounds like a plan...

Gives a whole new meaning to the expression, "bathtub gin"...

[Big RR]

Bill--depending on how close the track is to land, that line hugging the coast could be a problem for Virginia, Maryland and northwards (maybe even the Carolinas); it doesn't appear to be the most likely path, but who knows? One good thing, after Sandy my daughters learned to fill their gas tanks before even a possible storm.

[Scooter]

if it comes to it I can drink them sitting in my bathtub

Sounds like a plan...

Gives a whole new meaning to the expression, "bathtub gin"...

I was going to make a bathtub gin joke, but I don't drink gin. "Bathtub cosmo" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[Big RR]

maybe not the same ring, but much better tasting I'd wager.

[RayThom]

... And she said: "That sounds great; but you'd have to live in Cleveland...Do you want to live in Cleveland?"

Feel the burn:

[Sue U]

Okay, so there is at least one trajectory that shows Irma hitting Toronto. Scooter, do you have enough gin/vodka/bourbon and/or plywood?

If you trace back that Toronto trajectory it shows Irma coming ashore on the eastern side of Florida somewhere around the Cape Coral/Fort Myers area and then remaining over land as it travels north and west, supposedly impacting large parts of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and finally Toronto.  Knowing how rapidly tropical storms weaken once they leave their point of origin/source of their power (the ocean), even if one could rise to a previously unheard-of Cat 6 or Cat 7 level the possibility of any hurricane packing enough of a wallop to be much more than a heavy rainstorm by the time it hit the Ohio River valley is about the same as winning the Powerball drawing twice in successive weeks.

Now, if she were to hook a hard right and stay out to sea — building into that mythical 'Cat 7' storm — until somewhere around the Delmarva peninsula and then make a beeline across Pennsylvania and western New York state, *THEN* perhaps Toronto might feel the pain.  But I daresay that particular scenario would be more like winning the Powerball THREE times in a row.

Ahem:

[Hurricane] Hazel had traveled 1,100 km (680 mi) over land, but while approaching Canada, it had merged with an existing powerful cold front. The storm stalled over the Greater Toronto Area, and although it was now extratropical, it remained as powerful as a category 1 hurricane. To help with the cleanup, 800 members of the military were summoned, and a Hurricane Relief Fund was established that distributed $5.1 million (2009: $41.7 million) in aid.

***

The death toll of 81 people has not since been equaled by a natural disaster in Canada. In addition to the casualties, over 4,000 families were left homeless.[50] The Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Canada estimates the total cost of Hurricane Hazel for Canada, taking into account long-term effects such as economic disruption, the cost of lost property, and recovery costs, to be C$137,552,400.[51]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Hazel

[Econoline]

[Lord Jim]

Come on, there are a lot of innocent imported foreign workers who could be hurt at Mir a Lago...

[BoSoxGal]

Come on, there are a lot of innocent imported foreign workers who could be hurt at Mir a Lago...

Just like Trump voters, they chose to get in bed with the devil - no mercy!

[Burning Petard]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/rush-limbaug ... 27581.html

It has been a long time since I listened to Rush. Now I wish I had been listening lately. I would have learned that East-coast liberal elites like me have amazing powers. All these hurricanes are just fake news to drum up support for the fake news about climate change. Maybe I should dig out my old Birkenstock sandals.

snailgate

[BoSoxGal]

That motherfucker poo-poohed the severity of the hurricane to his moronic audience, then evacuated for his own safety!