READY?

This week I am on the Atlantic coast in North Florida … awaiting Hurricane Fay who should arrive here in the next 24 - 30 hours as I write these words. The last several days on the beach have been beautiful and the sunset on Tuesday was gorgeous.

Well do I remember in my childhood how hurricanes hit with little warning and took many lives. Thankfully, in this age there are all kinds of tools, such as radar and satellites and computers, that can track a storm and predict its outcome.

In this case there are still unknowns as to how the storm will be directed after it goes back out into warm ocean waters and returns to shore near here. The latest forecasts show various possibilities of the path she will take and the force she will carry. Predictions vary from tropical storm to hurricane one or stronger.

All the media are warning people to be prepared. (I myself might just hit the road and head home to Georgia if the prediction seems severe tomorrow.) The basics of being ready mean getting on hand drinking water, batteries, cash, and a full tank of gas in the car.

Just as it is important to be physically prepared for emergencies, how much more so, must I follow warnings about my eternal safety and security. Unfortunately, there will come a day when, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.”