Tropical Storm Shreds

We have tropical storm shreds over us here in the mountains of North Carolina.  Let me make a few weather related observations and then turn my attention to seminary writing.

--These storm remnants are not the scary kind.  The rain patters gently, and occasionally, we get a swirl of wind. 

--I will not be walking this morning.  It's been windy and rainy all night, and even if I wait until the last possible minute to walk this morning, it will still be dark.  The risk of slick leaves is just too great.  The key factor is the dark--it's hard to avoid slick leaves on black pavement, even with a flashlight.

--This morning, I made this Facebook post:  "Yesterday as I was getting ready to leave Spartanburg Methodist College, we talked about the tropical storm remnants that we expected to arrive within the hour. My department chair asked if it was cloudy yet, and I said, "Yes, but not the scary kind of clouds." My chair said, "It's not Edgar Allen Poe scary out there yet, is that what you're saying?" It was exactly what I was saying, and I had that "I am among my people" moment that is increasingly rare these days."

--Lots of people are mystified about the absence of big tropical storms in the last month. Some people are declaring hurricane season over. But we're far from the end of hurricane season. I am glad to be safe in the mountains.

--I have tended to think of hurricanes as being summer storms, but when I look at the history of big storms, more of them come in September or October than in June, July, and August.