Hurricane Frances has just passed over me here without any loss of power, telephone, or TV. This was unlike the experience I had with Charley.

FYI, I have no generator and probably would not bother to get one. I also did not plywood my windows or anything else. Fortunately I suffered no damage. While there was some inconvenience, the delay in resoration of power after Charley meant I enjoyed a gourmet feast with my neighbors. We charcoaled salmon, sirloins, chicken-breasts, and cornish game hens. No wine was damaged.

The reason for the lack of what you consider adequate preparation was not a cavalier spirit, but a realization that this area had not suffered a hurricane since Donna, forty-four years ago. I have become very used to storms turning, following the gulf stream and ignoring us. Charley and Frances introduced a new reality and Ivan is still sitting out posing a new threat.

If the past is indeed a prologue to the future, I will look forward to the next forty-four years of these storms missing my area of the state.

Publius