Posted by Ed Kiser on September 21, 2005 at 21:59:23 from 64.12.116.6 user Kisered.
In Reply to: Ed Kiser and his string of lady hurricanes posted by Prue Eckett on September 21, 2005 at 21:16:01:
As for "MY string of lady hurricanes" I claim no ownership and certainly no responsibility for the placement thereof, as such is left in Better Hands than my own.
One of the problems is in the wishing it would move just a little bit further away, knowing full well that it means that those in that direction will be getting a greater force. It is like the placement of a landfill for dumping trash - not in my back yard, go dump it next to someone else's house. What becomes my good luck becomes something more horrible for someone else. It is just as well that such placements are not my job.
As it turned out, the storm's path did go further south than it was originally thought, thus sparing those near me the wrath of such horror that cannot be imagined unless one has lived through one of these freaks of nature at her worst. My heart now goes out to those in Texas on the far side of the Gulf of Mexico, as now it seems that they are the target of this devastating force. I do hope that it does stay as far away as possible from the area of New Orleans so recently clobbered.
My thanks for the concerns expressed on my behalf.
But then, no place is all that immune to nature and its forces. At least with hurricanes, we get some sort of warning, whereas with earthquakes, it just suddenly is upon its victims.
We Ransome fans are well acquainted with his description of the fury of Nature as we saw the brave crew of the Goblin hang on for dear life, a description that conjures up a series of mental images that are quite vivid and awesome.
There are two other storms that are painted so well in his discriptive prose, and those are, first, the storm on that last night on Wild Cat Island in SA, and then, the blizzard that blew the sledge to the North Pole with the D's hanging on. These word pictures do leave very impressive pictures in my inward eye.
It was a great disappointment to find in the 1974 movie of SA that the story just quit before the night of the great storm on Wild Cat. Such depiction would have been an interesting challenge for any movie producer. It was easier to change the story than to go for those special effects of the storm. Or maybe it was just a matter of not letting the movie get too long.
As for my string of lady hurricanes, keep a lookout to the offshores of West Africa, as there is the birthplace of many of these horrors of nature. We have not seen the end of them yet, and of course, there is next year...
And by the way, there is nothing ladylike about these storms.
Now lets us get ready for the next one. There always will be one, no matter where one lives, as we all face our own special hazards to a normal way of life. So dear friends, take care. Nature can be taking aim at you.
Ed Kiser, South Florida