Well, I finally got my wish. As bizarre as it may sound, I have been hoping for an Atlantic coast hurricane to come along. Reason for that wish is that I have noticed over the years that about the surest way to end a drought in the Piedmont of NC is for a hurricane to hit the coast north of Georgia. Or to at least scrape it a good one.

Dennis brought a lot of rain to eastern NC, but here (I live 25 miles east of Charlotte), we got about an inch. That's all.

Right now we're about 8.5 inches behind in rainfall. That translates to about a million gallons spread out over my 20 acres. I was really getting worried about turning on the faucet and getting mud (if anything) from the well.

So much for the selfish blather.
And I know it sounds heartless to hope for an event that causes so much damage.
But, like floods, (natural) forest fires, and hard freezes, hurricanes do have their place in the scheme of things. And I'm glad to see Floyd in the neighborhood. And have been real nervous about it, too.
I was here when Hugo paid a visit right at ten years ago. And a Cat 1 hurricane this far inland is no picnic by any stretch of the imagination.

Some items in passing:
-As I said, I live about 25 miles east of Charlotte. At about 8pm we were getting hammered with rain and gusty winds (about 45mph). The west side of Charlotte was enjoying a gorgeous sunset!
-There are a lot of folks passing through, east to west, to get out of harm's way. And a lot of them going west to east. Dressed in fatigues or driving utility trucks.
-It was reported that gas stations in coastal Georgia and South Carolina were selling gasoline at cost so people could afford to tank up to get out of Dodge. I noticed that gas prices spiked a bit today in the Charlotte area.
-Talked to some of the folks back home in Johnson City, TN. A lot of the high schools and the civic auditorium have been opened as shelters for anyone from the coast who happen to go that far (about 350 miles) to get away from the storm. Those shelters are about full tonight.

Like I said, it probably sounds callous to say I'm thankful for the change in the weather. What I'm really thankful for is the chance that the drought (18 months now) may be breaking.