I noticed something strange when I got up this morning at 4 something. Very strange indeed. You see, it was completely silent.

Usually at that hour, there is a lot of sounds of the night that are still going on. The crickets and other insects are still singing their song, for one thing. Since there was rain over night, the frogs should be having a very loud party outside. I almost always hear a pair of owls screeching back and forth, along with constant dog barking in the distance, and the croaking (I can’t thing of a better word) of an alligator or two.

This morning, there was absolute silence, in a dead calm.

Here in Florida, we await the arrival of Hurricane Helene this morning, and it is as though all of the creatures in the woods know what is coming.

It was eerie… much like the neighborhood dogs howling just before an earthquake when I was a kid growing up in California; how do they know?

We aren’t in the area of serious danger, at least that’s the forecast. We are expecting tropical storm winds and no more rain than usual here in Central Florida. Of course, tropical storm winds can be bad enough if the tree next to your house decides it’s time to let go, or the power is out for an extended period; I pray for those who will feel the full fury of Helene, and how you will too.

At any rate, I thank God for another day and for another adventure, and we’ll talk again soon.