Moving into the Edge of Frances

Huntsville is just now being covered by the edge of Frances. Predictions for our city kept changing as I watched the Weather Channel. A couple of days ago, we were going to be in the middle of Frances. The next day, they said Frances would swerve to the right and cover more of Mississippi than Alabama. The day after that, the projected path was right over Huntsville again and finally, Frances swerved to the east of us and centered over Georgia, leaving our city on the outer edge.

Obviously hurricane paths are hard to predict as are tropical storms. Our rain predictions ranged from 8 to 10 inches down to 1/2 inch and now I think it is back up to 2 inches later this afternoon (but that could change by the time you read this).

We could use a little rain here -- its just strange to have a storm blowing in from the east. We hope the winds and lightning do not get too strong.

My sister who lives along the border of Georgia and Florida, said it was raining pecans as her trees were shaken by the wind. Branches have been flying by, getting tangled in wires and landing in front of her windows. They've had tornado warnings, but seem to be okay so far. She said in her blog, that her doorbell even rang and nobody was there. It must have been Frances letting them know that she was on their doorstep.

People are Gullible

I just got another urban legend e-mail today. I am glad my friends think of me and I hope they still write, but I am constantly amazed at how gullible folks can be.

Most of this stuff is not true. When you get an e-mail from someone else, even if it appears to be official, it is probably a false story or legend. Even if it sounds perfectly reasonable -- enough to think it could be true -- it is still NOT true.

If it has authentic-sounding names in it, authored by a doctor at a hospital, etc., it is still FALSE. Anyone can make e-mail sound official. Names can be invented. Real authors may not know that someone is pasting their name into an e-mail.

The best rule of thumb is to disbelieve any information received in e-mail until it is verified through a site like www.snopes.com or similar. Truly, an interesting event or a warning that is real would have appeared in a newspaper, TV or elsewhere.

TV news shows are always looking for things to expose or bring to public attention and there are TV stations on both ends of the political spectrum. If you get information in e-mail that you never heard anywhere else, assume that it is false.

People who invent these lies often urge you to pass the note along to your friends. They get sadistic pleasure out of knowing their false story is being spread around the world. Don't give in to them by passing information you have not verified, first.

On the other hand, if you want to pass along stuff, a good joke, poem or story can be an appreciated work of fiction. Even photos have been fictionalized to be funny (just realize that Photoshop can make anything look real and don't believe most photos of strange things like extra large cats until you can verify them, too).

Ice Sculpture Contest Photos

This has been making the e-mail rounds (thanks Lil S.). I remember seeing sand sculpture photos recently. Ice sculptures look real good right now that we are still in summer weather here. While I love looking at photos for both, ice sculptures can be much more complex. I read about a hotel built of ice -- one where you could spend the night, but you had to bring very warm sleeping bags because they certainly weren't going to run a heater in the room.

Ice Sculpture Contest - China

Hurricane Frances Coming This Way

Weather stations this morning were projecting that Frances should come directly over my city in Alabama. It will no longer be a hurricane, but it could dump a lot of water our way. Ever since our home flooded in 1999, heavy rain is not something I want to see.

Hopefully, the city improvements to the creek and a watchful neighborhood will keep us safe. At least we are insured to the hilt. Still, I will probably be moving things from the floor to a spot higher on the shelves this Monday night when it is supposed to hit us.

Our new TV station must be excited for a chance to show off their new weather tracking doppler on such a storm (see entry for 09-02-04). They can tell us the size of the raindrops that will fall. It will be interesting to find out if they can tell us useful things that the other stations can not.

I was talking to my sister in Atlanta. She said with Florida residents evacuating north and Labor Day weekend vacationers wanting to stop before they get to Florida, that Atlanta will be filling up with folks. It's going to be a crowded weekend over there.

For anyone who is interested, here's a repeat of an earlier posting --> link to a program that tracks Frances (and other hurricane paths, past and present).

Making Peanut Brittle

I made peanut brittle with this easy recipe from Heloise. It really was simple and turned out great.

Our Local TV Station, First in the World to ....

From Jean Brandau, comes this news about one of our local TV stations.

Extending the Greenway or Not?

Good grief! Is it September, already? Whew, time flies! The older I get, the faster days seem to go by. This morning, we saw a big bird hanging its head on the roof of the sheltered picnic area at the greenway entrance. Thinking of all the buzzards and large water birds that we saw in Florida, I wondered if it was a big bird, too, such as a hawk.

The huge bird let out a loud "Caw! Caw!" and we knew then that it was a crow. They are laughing at us, it seems, because the sound is more like "Ha! Ha!" Crows grow huge around here. At least they are good for some things -- keeping the roadkills picked clean, for one.

It looks like our greenway is getting extended another mile or so on the north end. I remember calling the local city government a couple of years ago and asking if they intended to extend the greenway. (A lot of us wanted to know so I volunteered to find out.) I was shuffled around through about 5 people before someone could answer with authority.

I was told that, no, the greenway would not be extended due to homeowners not wanting it in their backyards along that section. A few months later, the local paper comes out with an article quoting city officials on how the greenway would be extended throughout the city and attached to other greenways -- to make one big walking area and how that was the plan all along. Apparently, the person I talked to was misinformed or was not completely honest with me.

I have no problem with the extension. I like the idea since I enjoy long walks along the Aldridge Creek. There might be a dispute with the city and what they consider city clearance versus what the homeowners think is clearance, though.

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