Hurricane Bill left his mark...

It's so incredibly unfortunate to me that despite ample warnings, plenty of media coverage... that someone, let alone an innocent child, had their life taken by Hurricane Bill. As it turns out, a small group of people were gathered for a party at Acadia National Park, gathered on the rock cliffs that hug the coastline in Maine. Well, despite knowledge of a close passing hurricane, despite tropical storm warning, heavy surf warning, dangerous rip current warnings, these people thought they were safe picnicing atop the cliff. Well, when you combine a nearby passing large hurricane, dangerous swells, and high tide, you have a potentially life-threatening situation. Reports indicate that waves were between 12 and 18' high, that they were crashing over the cliff and actually pulled several of the people there into the water.

LARGE SWELLS WILL BEGIN TO AFFECT MUCH OF THE REMAINDER OF THE U.S. EAST COAST AND THE ATLANTIC MARITIMES OF CANADA LATER TODAY AND SUNDAY. THESE SWELLS WILL LIKELY CAUSE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SURF AND LIFE-THREATENING RIP CURRENTS.

NBC is referring to it as a rogue wave, but I don't see how it can be considered rogue... there was a doggone hurricane off the coast! It was a dangerous and very likely wave. The hurricane passed within 200 miles of the coast, a hurricane with tropical storm force winds extending out 300+ miles. In my opinion, the party should have been rescheduled or relocated. My heart goes out to the family and friends of the small child whose life was taken.The extratropical storm Bill is now moving out into the open waters of the Atlantic, after making landfall in Newfoundland.

My wonderful groom and I had a wonderful weekend, visiting our dear friends and his old college campus. What an incredible visit we had! First, we drove up Georgia, into Alabama and stopped in at my wonderful groom's university...My wonderful groom loves the feel of the grass there... I can see why!!Leave it to me to find a weathervane in all that...Then, we visited some friends over lunch at Milo's Hamburgers (which was causing my wonderful groom to drool all week long), where they have famous tea and bbq sauce smothered burgers... messy, but very yummy. We had some great conversation with 3 of my wonderful groom's college friends and one of my middle and high school friends (she left before I remembered to take pics-- sad face... no worries, I'll catch her next month on our girls weekend!). It was really terrific catching up and sharing stories with our friends... a true outpouring of love. Splendid. Before leaving town, we picked up a treat for our Jasper, AL hosts (we weren't guests, we were family)... the man of the house has a sweet spot for a specific coconut cream pie from a particular establishment. I must admit, it was pretty rockin... In Birmingham, we got some unknown-to-GPS directions to the house via Corridor X, the future I-22. It was a fast, easy straight shot. We arrived in the late afternoon, and I made fast friends with my wonderful groom's dear college pals. Honestly, it was like I had known R's wife A, all my life. We must be kindred spirits. It was wonderful. We had such deep and meaningful conversations, and I felt so comfortable and welcome in their beautiful home! They fed us wonderful meals, so we treated them to a wonderful yummy Italian outing, complete with dough-nadoes (thanks, B!!!) Then, the grown ups had a wonderful time enjoying the Wii. My wonderful groom and I, with the help of the charming children made Mii's for one another. My dear kindred spirit and I had a blast racing cows and other such things, while the men made excuses for less than desired golf scores. LOL! We introduced the whole family to the joys of jeep riding. What a blast! After a brief and non-lethal encounter with a "cow killer ant".

Velvet ants are not aggressive and will try to escape from you. The females have a very painful sting if handled. The name "Cow Killer Ant" was given to the velvet ant because of the reputation of the female's sting. It is said that the sting is so painful that it could kill a cow. This handsome insect does make a sound (especially when stepped on) but the squeaks of the cow killer ant would hardly be heard over the painful screams, if the person stepping on the wasp was barefoot.
~source

We hated to leave this wonderful visit, but all weekends must come to an end, so we headed out, fortunately, taking an adventurous route back, which allowed my wonderful groom a visit with his kids.

Have a fantabulous day!!!
~Dewdrop