The feeling is like a bad taste or an unpleasant odor in a confined space. A crowded elevator. A rancid memory, refusing to rise in order to purify itself, instead choosing to fester just below the blister of consciousness. Transparent, like a stealth weapon ninety-nine percent ghost. A vaporous déjà vu that will not leave me alone. This feeling I have is like all of that, this dread that will not go away. This thing called — Irene.
Hurricane Irene — whose name means “peaceful” (I bet some higher-up got a chuckle out of that) — plows a belligerent path northward toward a steamy rendezvous with inevitable landfall. A juggernaut on a mission: a collision with North Carolina and everywhere else.
No. Collision is not a good word to describe this terrible meeting of wind and land mass. The real word should be more subtle. Something akin to convergence or assimilation, or — confluence. Yes. A confluence with North Carolina. I like that. But I still have a very bad feeling about this Hurricane-Irene-whose-name-means-peaceful.
I don’t like hurricanes or tornado’s. Which where I live we have those terrible tornado’s. I’ve been in many tornado’s but only one hurricane. That was Wilma when it hit Key West.
My prayers are with you Tim.
After reading your posting “Dark” the other day and now “Irene” I had the thought that you should hurry out and get a generator and a big can of gasoline to operate it. Hang on, we will be praying for you!
Don Mac
batten down the hatches, Tim….I’m praying for you….
I’ve been thinking of you (and Rich, too, in Virginia) ever since Irene’s path was established. I wish the best for you. I pray all will be well and you’ll be safe.
My prayers are with you, Tim. Both you and Rich. We had a direct hit from Ike 3 years ago. Took over 2 weeks to get electricity back. Hope you have bought batteries, own a generator, have packed all your essentials and are preparing to evacuate. God be with you.
Hoping you’ll be all right too.
My thoughts are with you Tim, be safe.
Hope all goes well for you. Be sure to keep us posted about what is happening as much as you can.
My mother’s name was Irene and she was a peaceful soul. My great granddaughter shares the name Irene and she tends to wreck havoc sometimes. I live in Iowa, far from this new Irene, but still have that feeling of dread about all the extreme weather lately. Stock up on water, fill all your coolers with ice, have plenty of batteries on hand and most of all, stay safe.
My thoughts are with you. I hope you come out of it relatively unscathed. We await further bulletins from you.