Well, Charley blew through last night off the coast at Daytona and really had no effect on Jacksonville (at least in my area of it) other than a much-needed rainstorm. Winds topped 30 mph. I slept through it. The sun rose over the garden as usual, and a small lizard flung himself at a moth drinking the nectar from my blooming basil.

The southern part of the state had it rough, though, including Orlando where my brother lives. His condo lost a window and we can't reach him by phone. They're finally starting to survey some damage on the barrier islands in the Gulf, and it is very bad, as the storm was a high category 4 when it hit them.

I do have to say that I've heard some of the most ignorant, asinine comments from high-ranking officials and those in the "know" on TV in the last 48 hours. "Mother Nature does what she wants to do, when she wants to do it, where she wants to do it." and "God does this that and the other blahblahblah." This is the 21st century, folks! Much like we no longer believe babies come from storks, we know how hurricanes are born and that, if anything, they are unpredictable thanks to 140 mph winds and clouds spanning hundreds of miles at a time. It doesn't make people feel better to believe "Mother Nature" or God is malevolently smashing these things into people's homes, and it's irresponsible to say so on TV! It's just a weather system, good or bad. There is no such thing as Mother Nature, and as far as I've read, God is in charge of good things, not wrecking lives. Low pressure systems off the coast of Africa seem to do that pretty well without any help from Him.

In between news broadcasts I saw a great recipe for Chicken Cacciatore on FoodTV, so I'm off to start up the olive oil....