Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Hello Dolly (sorry)

Hurricanes that landfall south of Houston usually produce heavy rains in Missouri and Southern Illinois. Thus, Dolly has finally arrived.

Once on land and downgraded to a tropical storm, however, Dolly decided not to follow the neat path like Rita on the oil industry map above. She headed west, way west, maybe to see Moni, then she (Dolly, not Moni) made a hairpin turn and headed back east. So Dolly finally got here!

There is nothing like tropical rain. It looks different (grey skies), it smells different, and it never stops. Sometimes, a tropical storm that came ashore in Southern California will make it all the way to Missouri/Illinois. That rain smells like San Diego.

[Yes, I also was always taught that "sky" is never plural (skies) because there is only one sky. Dictionaries, however, include an entry for "skies." Best bet: use "sky" when it clear, meaning everyone in a given area has exactly the same sky. Use "skies" when the sky might be different from place to place within a given area.]

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