Rainmaker

I am originally from CO. Beautiful, wonderful, amazing CO. In 2005 I moved to not-so-amazing TX. (Sorry, TX friends! Hey, wanna hear a joke? God was creating the world and some angels were watching Him. He explained that He was creating the world with balance, so for every soaring Mt. Everest, there was an equally deep Challenger Deep, for every frigid Vostok Station, there's an equally blazing Death Valley. As the angels watched, God started creating a paradise - beautiful scenery, gorgeous weather . . . really, a heaven on Earth. "What's that place?" one angel asked. "Oh, just a little something I'm creating to prepare people for the awesomeness of heaven. I like to call it Colorado." "But wait a minute," another angel interjected, "I thought you were creating the Earth with balance. If you build a paradise, won't you have to recreate that . . . other place?" "No worries," said God, "just wait 'til you see Texas!" ;-) Ok, so maybe that wasn't the best joke to get me back in your good graces. In my defense, whenever I'd tell people in SETX that I'd moved there from CO, they'd give me a funny look and ask me whyever for. In fact, one little old lady said to me "Honey, I've lived here all my life and I would never leave, but this really is the armpit of Texas!". Anyway, getting distracted. Moving on . . . )

I moved to Beaumont on July 11, 2005. If you've never been to SETX, know that July and August are the absolute two worst months of the year. Hot and muggy with mosquitoes the size of your fist. As I started work and was being introduced, everyone ribbed me a bit about moving to TX in the summer. One gentleman even said to me "Well, you've seen about the worst Southeast Texas has to offer: heat, humidity, and mosquitoes. Now you just need a good hurricane and you'll have seen it all!". Bite your tongue, Mr. Pressure Equipment Integrity Engineer! In just over two months, Hurricane Rita, the most intense cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, came ashore just south of where I lived and worked. I was evacuated for almost two weeks and came back to a refrigerator full of moldy food and the joy of working nights for 16 days straight to get the refinery up and running. I was blessed that the food was the only damage I suffered and that I still had a job to go back to. Others were not so lucky. Welcome to Texas, indeed.

In the seven years I lived in SETX, we were hit directly by two more hurricanes (Humberto, the most rapidly intensifying North Atlantic cyclone on record and Ike, the second-costliest hurricane in US history) and one tropical storm (Edouard - nothing exciting to say about it) plus a few other near misses and glancing blows. Before Rita, the last major (Category 3+) hurricane to hit SETX was Hurricane Alicia in 1983 and the last tropical cyclone to cause significant rainfall and damage was Tropical Storm Allison in 1989. My time there was certainly more active than long time residents had previously seen.

All this to say, I was thrilled to move to NOVA. Finally, getting to leave the obsessive checking of Weather Underground during hurricane season. There was even a possibility of leaving like I came, with Hurricane Ernesto threatening to come north just as I drove out, before settling on staying south and making landfall (twice) in Mexico. Since August 13 we have been living it up in the perfect fall weather of NOVA - cool nights and sunny days leading to beautiful fall foliage. Sadly, this may be the last weekend we have to enjoy those colorful leaves . . . as we are  once again in the path of a hurricane. What?! I didn't leave that behind?! Apparently, the magnetic draw of Naomi is too much for the Atlantic to withstand. Breath easy, SETX, and prepare to marvel as the mid-Atlantic experiences an abnormally high number of hurricane hits for the next few years. But don't get too comfortable - I'll be back in a few years and who knows what damage I'll be able to wreak!