Hurricanes & Fall Blessings

The last week of August, the 29th to be exact, was to mark the 3rd Anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Instead we got Hurricane Gustav, followed a week later by Hurricane Ike. Gustav formed on August 25th and made landfall in Louisiana west of the Mississippi River on September 1st. While Gustav was coming ashore, Ike was forming. We spent a week recovering from Gustav and another week watching Ike until it made landfall in Texas on September 13th. That, folks, makes 18 days of more than a little Hurricane stress. Even longer when we consider that Florida got Fay and the East Coast got Hanna. All this hurricane activity fell around a time of year that for most in South Louisiana is the marker for the turning point in our lives. We have PreKatrina lives and PostKatrina lives. So, here in New Orleans, when we woke up on September 14th to cool (by our standards) dry air with a hint of the coming fall, it was nothing short of a miraculous gift from the Gods.

The changing of the seasons here in New Orleans and South Louisiana is a subtle thing. Our weather isn't always subtle, but the change in seasons definitely is. Weather that would be considered summer in Minnesota or Montana or even Massachusetts, can start here as early as March and last until November. While in September we begin to hope for Fall, we rarely get a glimpse so soon and even more rarely so close to the Autumn Equinox. Since Nature is the Great Teacher, I am hopeful that this breath of fall from the Gods is a sign that this year's hurricane season is on its way out. Here's hoping the weather in your world speaks to you as well.