This seems to be the week that both my husband Charlie’s and my childhood stomping grounds have been hard hit by “natural” disasters. I have written about the forest fires in Oregon destroying many of the places I camped, hiked, fished and vacationed in. This morning Hurricane Sally made landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama before moving onshore to Mobile, Alabama.
My husband grew up in Mobile and spent many summers at a beach house at Gulf Shores before it became built up with countless condominiums. He jokingly called it “redneck Riviera,” a name only allowable to one who went there. He taught himself to surf and knew each inch of the shore. In the mid 1960’s that house was destroyed by a hurricane and his family never rebuilt.
Today he was glued to the Weather Channel and on-line pictures of the water damage. He knew each little town they mentioned and laughed when one of the commentators said “you probably aren’t familiar with Daphne, Alabama.” “No kidding,” he quipped.
So far this season we have suffered through a tornado warning and tropical storm in Connecticut, watched Oregon burn and Gulf Shores flood. They say there are five more storms developing in the Atlantic and that we are running out of names for them. Combined with covid, this year has delivered far too many unpleasant surprises. I just reviewed the ten plagues in Exodus. Apparently we can still look forward to hail and lightning, if not frogs!
Saved By Words 
So many people are losing so much. Very sad.
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It never rains built pours! Honestly this year it’s been a case of ‘if you don’t laugh you’ll cry’.
So many happenings all following one after the other- both here in Australia and around the world- you have to wonder if someone’s out to get us
Take care Elizabeth – stay safe!
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Thanks. I await a calmer year.
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Mother Nature is having way too much fun this year. Who are we sending to parley with her? 😐
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I guess you got the rain too.
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Waaaaaay too much of it. We had flash flood warnings, but that’s not unusual for us.
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I didn’t realize that.
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It rains A LOT in Georgia. At one point, this year, it was raining every day for several months. Funny enough, I think we had a so-called drought last year and it rained a lot then too.
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Crazy. I guess that is why they could grow crops there so well.
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That may be true! But I don’t think the soil here is all that great. I could be wrong, but I’m almost certain we have a lot of clay.
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So sad to hear about these disasters Elizabeth. It seems that Nature is reminding us to take care of it.
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She sure is.
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The world has gone crazy this year and it seems that no part of the country is being left out.
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An equal opportunity disaster year.
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Oh, golly! If the frogs come, I might croak.
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LOL
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sadly the grief touches many, all over the world…let’s hope the idea of frogs taking over, doesn’t occur!
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For sure. I just heard from a friend that they had rain and lightning last night. Fortunately no hail. Hail and lightning were another plague.
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When the frogs come, I might start going to church!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Perfect response!
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I would be glued to the Weather Channel, too, if a force of nature hit my hometown. What a year this has been!
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I can’t wait for it to end. Unless the election totally does me in. Then I will be in a cave awaiting 2024.
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I understand!
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This year will live on in everyone’s minds. But for those directly touched by these disasters it’s impossible to imagine the impact.
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Just talked to a friend who is being very affected by the smoke even in her home with all the doors and windows shut. We do tend to take breathing clean air for granted.
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Most of us take many things for granted until it’s too late. I hope things improve soon for your friend.
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It rained a great deal and much of the smoke dissipated. Sadly since the fires are still burning there may be more smoke in the future.
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It indeed has been a year of disasters Elizabeth. We see the newscasts of your fires & our firestorm experience earlier this year, here in Australia comes flooding back. Praying for those who are in the danger zones…
Bless you,
Jennifer
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Yes. I remember the ordeal of your parents last year. We really are all in this together.
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That we are…
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I knew about the fires, Elizabeth, but I was not aware of the flooding. It’s been a rough year all around. People in South Africa are going hungry now.
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It is so frustrating to see so many overweight here and so many going hungry other places.
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