NHC Issues 'All Clear'

Hurricane Charley passed us by with barely a hello. It was exciting, and at times a little nerve wracking, taking part in the prep and hoopla that preceded Charley. Our new place is very close to the ocean - once we get our ADSL hooked up at home, I will post some pics of just how close, along with some nice post-Charley wave action - and its situated on the part of the island that was anticipated to get the brunt of the storm. As it turns out, the east end of the island got the worst of it, which consisted of minor tree damage (or so I'm told from some coworkers). Now all eyes are on Cuba, who got nailed last night. Since passing Cayman it has picked up steam and was a Category 2 going over Havana, which means it has wind speeds of ... uh? ... greater than 100 mph, I think. I'm told it is expected to get up to Category 3 by the time it hits Florida.

Sam and Oliver took in the excitement with the calm of two young boys who had no idea what was going on. I tried explaining to them what I thought was going to happen, but then Steph insisted I stop, that I was just freaking them out. When the storm passed yesterday afternoon and we all went outside for a walk, Sam was disappointed - no, in fact, he was angry with me - that there was not more distruction.