Well, hello Dolly...

I don't take hurricanes lightly. Never have, never will. In fact, last night I dreamed about funnel clouds hanging from the sky. Lots of them. And I don't take lightly the pounding our friends from the south are taking from this "small storm" so affectionately named Dolly. But I do love the rain. I appreciate the wrath our neighbors are bearing so I can happily sit in my house and listen to the rain. I can practically hear our pecan trees as they gulp greedily, afraid the fountain will run dry and their fruit will shrivel up. I appreciate the grass we will have to mow and the pecans we will be allowed to pick this fall. I appreciate these things knowing that it could very easily and quickly be us on the news. I appreciate the awe inspiring power of the natural world and the way a storm can churn and churn until it is perfectly and powerfully formed, puffing and turning around a core of peacefulness at its very center. And yes, I know it is easy to appreciate the beauty and wrath of a hurricane while I sit in my living room sipping my second cup of coffee, listening to the pitter-patter of raindrops lightly falling on my roof. A hurricane, like many things, is easy to admire from a distance.