Zak, like sock: Dodging hurricanes

We are now officially at the peak of hurricane season and thankful to have missed the previous three, assuming that Ike will follow its predicted path. Of course, we are not indifferent to the lives and landscape that have been, are, or will be affected by the storms this season. But, at the end of the day, people are well aware of the risk involved and it is a part of life here, just as (insert natural disasters in corresponding region) are. Whether or not everyone has the means and ability to move to a 'less risky' part of the country (or another country - i.e. Cuba) is debatable, at best. I suppose that every individual on their own, utterly powerless against these massive storms, can at least become daily appreciative of things like electricity, a roof over their head, large branches that stay connected to trees. Together, they can rebuild communities and drive insurance costs to obscene heights.

Going back to that tree branch business - it is a big issue here in Gainesville, which has more tree canopy than any other city in the state of Florida. There are many reasons why that is a great feature. The one reason that it is not a great feature is that consecutive hurricanes can do a lot of damage to property and powerline and make the task of restoring power all the more difficult. Such was the case here in 2004 when they were hit with 2 in 2 weeks. The 2nd was relatively weak but caused power outages for 2 weeks following because the soil was saturated and unstable from the 1st.

Over the weekend, we did a bit of Hurricane-dodging (and trampling!) on campus. Florida hosted Miami in their non-conference interstate rivalry. While we didn't have tickets to the football game, we observed the insanity from a close distance as Michelle worked in the lab and I escorted her on my motorcycle. Later, we walked across campus to the free, less crowded volleyball game, which was very entertaining by the way. Of course, campus was overrun with football fans parked and tailgating where ever they darn well felt like it. I mean, next to any and all academic buildings, dorms, libraries - where ever there was green space. The Swamp holds 90,000, at least, so I guess they relax parking (and drinking) regulations on game days. I'm expecting that this 'park on campus where ever you feel like it' phenomenon will end up being the first of many reasons why SEC football is a different animal.