On the Beach

[Riley Smith]

For several days the skies have been cloudy and there have been episodes of rain. Most of it was light but Friday night it turned loose and poured. The clouds were the results of weather out on the Gulf, in this case an area of concern off the TX coast. The moisture intruded on life, put a kink in mowing, and made fishing not worth the trouble. Finally, later yesterday, cooler air started infiltrating in and to the northwest the clouds showed a hint of sunlight. The blob moved south and turned blue over the waters and the air cleared enough to show the trees on Horn Island as clearly as they ever get.
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We were on the beach to entertain guests from upstate. There was a luncheon yesterday to honor a friend that is moving to North Dakota. He has cancer and his wife is from there. He's setting her up before he leaves. A good man and one that will be missed, so we honored him and wished them well.
We lounged with our guests on the porch watching the waters. There were pelicans diving to entertain and unusual, a small dolphin in close, scouring the waters for a meal. We told our guests that the dolphin was specifically for them as they usually stay in the river channel almost a mile due south. We tracked the animal back and forth as it meandered in the bay out front. Finally heading southwest where dolphins go when they leave the bay.
The conditions had the pelican conserving their energy for the most part. They were stacked on perches all up and down the shoreline. The young are still practicing their bombing techniques, but the mature are content to wait for what is coming. They're gathered here for the feast scheduled in the coming days, as the shrimp and menhaden make their movement from the river to the gulf. The skies will be covered in bird life and the waters will be filled with fish. It is a pretty neat spectacle and very conducive to a fish on the rod too.
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Hopefully there will be sailing. The doctor has said I'm good, although I'm a little reluctant to go full throttle just yet. He's a doctor and what does he know? I know me better than anyone, and I know I'm not ready for max output just yet. Soon enough. We try and spend the fall days on the beach as much as we can. There is plenty to do and above all, a fine view and atmosphere. I forsee a lot more in the coming days

Before we left to go home and feed pets, the young eagle flew in from Graveline Bayou just down the shoreline. The size is IMPRESSIVE!!!

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[Norm L.]

Very nice tale of here on the Gulf, and thanks for the photos. One of the joys of the condo balcony was fall sunsets and pelican entertainment.

In the last 3 days we have had a total of 15" of rain, according to back yard rain gauge. Fortunately, there were some well-timed small gaps or small sections of very light drizzle on the edge of the heavier rain. Walking two dogs and duties of poop picking do not go with carrying an umbrella. Towels did get a good use when the dogs walked in the door. Four times a day.
A long article in today's paper from the hurricane expert in Colorado (that always puzzles me). He says all the early statistics based on decades of records was the foundation for the spring forecast of over 20 storms and 8 serious hurricanes. He has no explanation on why there is such a dearth. But it ain't yet over.

[Frank B.]

And we're in one of the longest droughts I can recall, about three months with nothing measurable.  We walked our favorite portion of the Natchez Trace Trail yesterday on a beautiful cool and clear, no humidity day and crossed two creeks that had never been dry in the thirty-five years we've lived here.  Both were bone dry with not even the smallest of puddles. 

The good news is it is predicted to break on Wed. night and into Thursday with at least two inches.  The bad news is, for you it could very well be a batten down the hatches event, a hurricane tracking to South LA. possibly the western edge of the Mississippi Coast. 

No, you can never say it is over until it is over.  In recent years the bad storms seem to come later in the season.

[Riley Smith]

The cool air is forming a boundary and it is sitting there... No telling what it will do. Rain for y'all would be nice out of it, but these systems are so fickle. We need more cool reinforcements from the Rocky Mountains to blow all that stuff away. I'm getting paranoid.

[Frank B.]

Its got a name now, Francine, track is through the Vermilion Bay area and through all those places that know how to deal with this and wish they didn't have to.

We are in the two to four inch rainfall area, small blessing thinking of the big picture.

[Riley Smith]

I'm heading to the shore later to batten down the hatches so to speak. Mostly that means is getting all the porch furniture off the porch and barricading the front doors to keep wind from blowing them open. Closing the chimney dampers and a general policing of the area. I haven't mowed the beach area yet and I don't think I will. Previously the neighbors mowed right to the water but that causes erosion in one of these storms. I began leaving a strip of the marsh grass along the shore about a decade ago and it helps, although a big storm is still apt to take a bite of the shoreline. This year I left even more and haven't mowed it, to let it rebuild after a big bite last year. Oh yeah, gotta get the generator going too. And I was in the mind to plan a fishing/sailing trip soon! O well.

[Norm L.]

This storm is, relatively, no big deal. But winds have gone from 74 mph yesterday to 85. And it has moved a bit more east. There is still an upper-level shear in Texas, but it is a little weaker and a little slower than yesterday. It seems to at least put a bit of a cap on the storm when it hits the coast.
As usual grocery stores and gas stations busy. No milk, bread and water on the shelves on Thursday.
Which comes to my problem. I'm scheduled to fly to Denver Thursday morning at 0803. I have a feel it will be doable in the tail of the storm but there won't be a plane. The fun of hub systems is that a freeze in Detroit kills flights in Miami.

[Riley Smith]

I checked awhile ago on the house on the water. So far, nothing is happening. No surge. No wind. No nothing but dreary light rain and gray clouds. Low tide right now. We'll see at 3am if I decide to go catch a fish in a hurricane    More pelicans than I've ever seen. There is a brisk business at the gas stations and groceries. I had to go the skin doctor for a spot and got the grand tour this morning and had a good breakfast to boot. We just also had the grandchildren scheduled tomorrow because the schools closed. Just a general disruption type day.

NPs, nurses, cops, refinery workers, and grandchildren... You know, essentials