the guilt of storm season

when a storm gets into the gulf, we who live along the coast begin the great sweat out, because we know it has to go somewhere. each and every one of us, from florida to mexico, cringes and prays it will go somewhere else. the problem with somewhere else is that people live there too. i swear that i do not want ike to come here but i feel guilty for wishing it somewhere else. i was watching the images of texans boarding up sitting in evacuation traffic and my stomach knotted up with that familiar dread and i feel so sorry for those people. damn, i hope galveston is spared. we all know that they suffered the worst hurricane in the history of our keeping records. it struck in 1900 and by our best estimates, some eight thousand died. that storm is the reason they erected the sea wall and yet in the face of a cat 4 or 5 that seems a paltry barrier at best. i'm wishing texas all the best. i'm wishing ike would just go away and despite my guilt, i'm still praying that it doesn't come here.