... at regular intervals, in anticipation of weather to come, there are periods of such intense calm you can talk yourself into a delusory resentment ..."it ain't comin', all that work for nuttn"...
... followed, hopefully, by ... "I'm glad I hooked that shit up yo!" ...
... barometric adjustment is responsible, altering normal air-pressure ... the most commonly used descriptor is "eerie quiet"... this is the sound of stealth, an experience in itself ... debris flew, trees bent and rain didn't so much fall as drive through ... hurricane Earl's core elements put on a lusty show, allowing me a taste of what it's like near the centre of one of these things ...
... something I learned is that it's easier to do "before" or "after" photography than it is to do the more daring "during" ... my best effort, taken from a nearby villa, was as thrilling and wet as it looked ... "my heartbeat needed that jolt" I noted, still feeling the inside of my ribcage as I dried off my spattered camera lens ...
... crop devastation, islandwide power outtages and predictable gas shortages are first on any checklist of post-hurricane issues ... as is clean-up ... Antigua cleans up fast if you're wondering ...
... memories of being the first one outside afterwards, when the sensation of awe at nature is still fresh in the mind, allow me to flirt with post-apocalyptic fantasies from the vantage of an essentially intact world ... and somewhere down the line in the path of Earl ... be it island, U.S. or Canadian mainland ... people will be humbled and reminded of our planet's capricious power ...
... then of course there are the beaches ... my seashell source ... the caressing sea turns aggressor, shuffling sands and casting up flotsam and jetsam (a term that, since childhood, has alternately made me cringe or chuckle due to its ... cuteness?) ... preliminary beachcombing yielded a perfect pole to support a clothesline and a usable, if slightly weathered, snorkel ... there's lots more at the high-water line but mostly not dead long enough for collection ...
... as a strengthened hurricane Earl moves onward to its destiny, we in his wake cast an eye forward to watch copycats Fiona and Gaston make their westward trek ... it'll likely be an island feeling the first lash of these seasonal visitors before North American media-hype swings into high gear ...
... wherever hurricanes make landfall there'll be a price to pay ... closures and cancellations inevitably cost money ...
... we all grumbled about the prolonged blackout while tossing out the contents of our warm refrigerators and mopping up puddles ... but these inconveniences are given perspective when you consider the fate of the lineman who was electrocuted yesterday while working on service restoration ...
... hurricane storm is no joke ...