"A" Storm

Well, we had our first Two Street Stompers meeting of the year last Friday evening. It happened that the first named tropical storm of 2013, Andrea, was passing overhead at the time. This did not cancel our meeting. Heck, it could be snowing during the parade, and we would still have to march!

While I was driving to the meeting, I won't say it was raining cats and dogs. I'll say it was raining lions and wolves. This was no passing drencher. This was a solid, sustained drencher ... which turned low-lying New Jersey into one vast swimming pool. I was a little concerned about getting to the clubhouse, because one of the traffic circles I had to drive through is notorious for flooding, but it was okay.

Once I got to the meeting, the conversation (among other things) turned to this tropical storm. I was mainly talking to Buzz, who is one of the shining lights of the Stompers ... a really great guy and in my age bracket. We put our heads together on it, but we couldn't ever remember a storm this bad so early in June. Then we recalled that last year's disaster, Sandy, occurred almost at Halloween, which is way late in the season for such a bad storm.

Buzz and I arrived at a conclusion that is admittedly unscientific, since it rests on our shared memory of summers past. We think the planet is warming up. I know that's silly, but you must forgive Buzz and me for having been around awhile. Things might be totally different for you when you get to the mid-century mark.

I just did some quick surfing. (Not in the Atlantic, the rip currents are killer today.) Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. Going back through time, there have been tropical storms that formed in January and hurricanes as late as December. And what a varied lot!

I remember Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Agnes hit in mid-June. She really walloped the mountains where I lived. It poured lions and wolves for seven days straight. People started building arks and calling the radio station to say that the storm was because God was angry at our nation. Now, fast forward to 1992 -- Hurricane Andrew, one of the worst of all time. Happened in August.

Here's a fast fact that you may or may not know: The word "hurricane" actually comes from the bored god of bad storms, Hurakan. This deity received worship from the Taino Indians of Puerto Rico prior to the arrival of the Spanish Inquisition.

I do petition Hurakan in my meditations, as well as Triton and Oshun. One must be very respectful of water deities, especially oceanic deities. Think you're safe in the surf because you know how to swim? Take care, ye of little faith, that Triton does not make a statement with you.

Anyway, the first storm of the Atlantic hurricane season has departed today, leaving behind verdant grass and hungry mosquitoes. We'll see what B through Z bring. Hurakan seems not to like being bored any more.

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