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Monday, August 11, 2014

Writing Up A Storm - Or Two...

Aloha,

Hurricane/Tropical Storms Iselle and Julio were a threat to the Hawaiian Islands this past weekend - and despite my flippancy below, I do thank God there was relatively little damage from both storms.


TS Iselle "hits" Pearl Harbor at 9 a.m. Friday...


Here on O'ahu, our family began "Storm Prep 2014" this past Tuesday and it was an interesting week as many people went into panicked squirrel mode.

I gassed up the cars, bought extra propane, filled the dry goods pantry (and joked on Twitter that I had restocked my boxed wine and canned goods -- such as Bud and Bud Lite in case the power went out :)

On Wednesday, I stripped our lanai (patio) and as I removed everything to the garage, I marveled at the fact we have so much junk - and hello, people, I walk around this stuff every day!!

Rain still falling at 9:15 a.m.

Thursday was the day to catch up on news reports, explain what was going on to the kids, gossip with the neighbors and *not* leave out the trashcan (Friday is our pickup day.)

And then da-dah... the storm arrived!



Roads were empty, Plumerias drenched at 9:30 a.m.

###

Hang on, Mark...

What, dude, I'm trying to tell a storm story.

What's this got to do with writing - or the price of bread?

Huh?

Where are you going with this? What valuable nugget of advice can you hope to share with your fellow writers?

Er... don't eat yellow snow?

Or, how about "Selfies" is now an accepted Scrabble word?

No! About this storm... where's the writing angle in a post about a weather pattern?

Ohhhhh... Okay, that's coming up.

Are you sure?

Promise.

Okay... but I'll be watching...

Ohhh, I'm quaking like oats-in-a-minute



"Boss, Da plane, da plane is cancelled, what's dat blue thing?"

The picture above was taken at about 1 p.m. and the picture below at about 2 p.m. when it was clear T.S. Iselle would be reported for local false advertising.



And so here's my point...

Finally

Shush.

Sometimes, we writers,  are physically ready and mentally prepared to write the big chapter or the fun post... but what happens is a fizzle of a feature or a pooped out post.



Me, all hunkered down at about 2:30 p.m.


So what do we do, we Band of Scribers?

Of course, there will be storms in our writing, but hunker down friends. Do what it takes to get through the bad times...

Because I promise...


Soon, the sun will shine - and the magic will flow from your fingers :)





 


13 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Hooray for sunshine and writerly magic.
And that the storms worst wasn't.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Just glad they all fizzled. Hurricanes are no fun.

CWMartin said...

I was watching Iselle and her little buddy Julio. Did you know that when it hit Mauna Kea, it became the highest altitude a tropical storm ever hit? Thankfully, she tore out her undercarriage doing it.

Miranda Hardy said...

Well I'm glad you didn't get the damage that could have happened, and I love how you weave writing into it, which is so very true.

Anonymous said...

For some reason, living up in the Frozen North of upper Michigan, we don't get any of those tropical storms. I'd gladly trade you a blizzard for one, they sound like more fun. ;)

Anonymous said...

For some reason, living up in the Frozen North of upper Michigan, we don't get any of those tropical storms. I'd gladly trade you a blizzard for one, they sound like more fun. ;)

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I thought about you when I heard the storms were heading your way and then I heard they missed you all for the most part. Good points about preparing for the worse and then having the sun shine through.

Morgan said...

Oh. My. GOSH.

Madness…

I can imagine everyone running about like squirrels ;)

Only you can tell such a well-crafted suspenseful story when there isn't destruction at the end. I was STILL on the edge of my seat.

Love the pics! (And glad you're fine and safe, though a bit disappointed there wasn't a storm, LOL)

Loni Townsend said...

Does this mean I can stop running around in a panic?

Sincerely,

Your neighborhood squirrel.

Al Diaz said...

Sometimes it happens that way. That last picture is really inspiring. It reminds me of the time I've expected big hurricanes in my life and nothing happens. I'm glad you had sunlight instead.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Mark - to answer your question raid the dry goods larder .. sounds like there's a few quenchers in there ...

But glad the storm passed by .. we've had ex hurricane Bertha - and have had some flash flooding .. and I expect our chalk cliffs are somewhat devoid of more seashells ... but thankfully it's bruising Scotland right now - ..

Storms - we still have very heavy winds down here .. glad all's well in your part of the world - cheers Hilary

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pics and moral of the story! :D

Kay said...

I filled up a huge plastic tub of water in my bathroom and bought two cases of water. Hurricane season is not over. I'm so relieved the storm passed us by, but sorry for the poor people of Puna and Pahoa. Nice to meet you, by the way. I noticed your blog on Fundy Blue and couldn't resist visiting.

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