So if you’ve never perused my mental meanderings contained in this website, as much as they can be contained, you may be intrigued or bewildered by the title to this post. Or maybe not. Let me alleviate your concerns for my cerebral function by telling you what I am not referring to. This is not about pasta-thin wearers of the latest runway fashions from Milan. Relieved? I sure am. Those ones of my readers that live in hurricane prone areas may recognize this phrase. It indicates the projected paths of storms. These predictions can either be terrifying or calming, or even both, depending on a few factors. Does the European model show the eye of the storm heading straight for your lanai, or the state/county that voted for the other candidate in the last election? Do you have your supplies that double as doomsday prep, or are you hoping that the three beverages and leftover Kung Pao Shrimp in your refrigerator will tide you over until Publix reopens? Is the latest intensity a Cat 5, or a typical 3:30 pm Florida thunderstorm? Is Jim Cantore telling you that you’re crazy not to flee? IS THE WAFFLE HOUSE CLOSING? So many questions, so few batteries and bottled water.
Amid the uncertainty, there is also an almost carnival like atmosphere. We regale each other with tales of waiting in line at Walmart for the last container of passion fruit smart water, or watching the guy in front of us at the WaWa filling his kid’s Ninja Turtle sandbox with gasoline in the back of the wife’s minivan. We watch the same footage and prognostications on the Weather Channel for hours, thinking that the latest update will somehow be dramatically better than the last. Personally, the hilarity of the memes on social media far outweighs the possibility of annihilation from natural causes. My next door neighbor said that waiting for a hurricane is like being stalked by a turtle with a nuclear bomb on its back. And still we wait…
Like trying to forecast a hurricane, or weather in general, we can be somewhat beholden to the unknown. With the best data and instrumentation, we are still unable to definitively pinpoint the exact details of any storm. And in a broader sense, life is similar. One day to the next, there are things that we just don’t know. That said, there are absolutes to which we can cling, an anchor in the storm, if you will.
When faced with the inevitable trials and unknowns in life, what Is your source of strength, security, peace, and protection?
(Click “Stand On Firmer Ground” for a deeper look into Spaghetti Models)
Stand On Firmer Ground