Sunday, rainy Sunday

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The rain season is in full swing in South Florida. Most afternoons we get a serious soaking. It has been great for the landscape at home, since we have no sprinkler/irrigation system. Even without it, we have beautifully green grass. It grows so fast, I am forced to mow twice a week. Some days I regret not taking Kathy up when she originally offered to buy me a riding lawn mower but, when I see our 82 year old next door neighbor pushing his mower around, I know I couldn't bare the shame of riding on mine.

We have escaped the threat of the second named storm of our young Florida lives. Hurricane Bertha has been slowly drifting across the Atlantic, from Africa toward Bermuda. She gained major status, to a category 3, before losing strength. She never posed any threat to the US mainland. Just today, she was downgraded to a tropical storm.

NOT OUT OF THE WOODS YET

The picture above shows Bertha's current position at 30N, 63W. We live at 27N, 82W.
The yellow and orange circles are two new potential storm systems which appeared overnight.
The yellow is 130 miles SE of Charlston, SC and poses no threat to South Florida.
It would be interesting to see that system meet up with Bertha and see if she could be revived, but this is highly unlikely, given her position.
The red circle is a significantly more likely foe. Although over 3000 miles from us, it is a very large tropical wave with low pressure. It is moving NW at 10-15 MPH. I am guessing this will become the 3rd named storm of the season. Remember the next name in the rotation is Cristobal.

KIDS FOR BRUNCH
This is the 5th and final weekend for Stephanie and Billy being with us. We all went to Burnt Store Marina for the famous Sunday brunch. We drove the truck because the weather has the seas quite rough today. After brunch, there was a break in the rain so we took a walk on the Charlotte Beach. We followed this up with a leisurely Sunday drive past some of the million dollar waterfront homes. The kids go home on Tuesday. Stephanie found an interesting clam shell formation to take home as a souvenir. Billy opted to procure a nice coconut. Billy is also taking home a variety of bug bites.