~jjmcgillicutty

Well ... it's been almost a year since my last journal update. That's just plain pitiful. Anyway, a lot has happened between then and now, so here's the gist:

I got engaged recently, and a week after I popped the question I left town. That was August 7. It is now September 24th and I have not returned. I won't be able to go back home again and see my intended until the 5th of October. Needless to say, this has been difficult for both of us.

Add to this the fact that I've had to travel to 28 cities in 2 months for business. I got to Birmingham, AL, the afternoon before Hurricane Katrina rolled through the area, which shook the hotel I was in and saturated half the floor of my 7th-story room with water, so that I splashed as I packed the following morning to head to Atlanta, where 4 tornadoes had just blown through. After Atlanta, I headed on to the Carolinas and while in North Carolina, Hurricane Ophelia reared her ugly head and shook things up yet again. Then, I headed to Florida. The plan was to fly from Tampa to Houston on Wednesday (the 21st), but after checking the weather and seeing Hurricane Rita was projected to hit Houston, it seemed unwise to get there a day or two ahead of manditory evacuations. So, I'm basically hanging out in Tampa waiting for the weather in Texas to calm down a bit. I'm supposed to fly to Austin on Monday.

Needless to say, I don't plan on visiting the south ever again except in the dead of winter.

Yesterday, I walked to the Gulf and took a few shots of the horizon while Rita prepared to pummel the opposite shore.

JJ>