I woke up this morning discouraged. My weekend plans are a bust – all my preparations and shopping weren’t necessary. Joaquin is going out to sea.

I know I’m not not alone in my disappointment. Anna commented this morning that she’d been hoping for a long weekend, “I don’t want destruction or anyone hurt. Just enough flooding to cancel school for a couple of days.” And, go on Facebook (or maplewoodonline) and you’ll see that there are plenty of people that have spent a huge amount of time this week discussing “hurricane force winds”, “tropical depressions” and “cones of uncertainty”.

Storms bring us together. They give us all something to talk about and “weather” is pretty safe topic – it sure beats gun control or marriage equality (both of which I support wholeheartedly, but don’t necessarily want to chat about with the UPS guy).

Neighbors rally together to share their homes and fridges following a storm. No one cares who they’re voting for or where/if you go to church. Storms are a great equalizer. Perhaps it’s that storms don’t care who you are. Nature is blind as it barrels in. We’re all fair game and need to stand together to get through it. Storms bring the best out of people.

So, I’d been hoping for a little weather to distract me from my worries and get me reacquainted with our neighbors. I was ready to fill the bathtub and hunker down. I still have one eye on the Weather Channel, hoping that Joaquin might make an unexpected turn west. Nature always likes to keep us guessing.

Love, Jess

P.S. My heart goes out to everyone in the Bahamas. I, like Anna, don’t want destruction or anyone hurt. Simply a good storm to take a few days off and hang out with my neighbors.