Dang Hurricanes

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My trip this time around has been quite musical. Everywhere I go it seems a song pops into my head about where I am. I saw a sign on I-10 west indicating I was on the way to Beaumont. That brought out the great Rodney Crowell tune “Stars on the Water,” with the line “From Beaumont to Biloxi, sea breeze at your door.” There’s also a line in that song that mentions the “dang hurricanes.” That, sadly, was on full display. Last year a number of hurricanes hit this general area. As you know, hurricanes are pretty big, so their impact is felt far beyond where “they” say the eye makes landfall. Laura, Sally, Zeta, and Delta all hit the Gulf region. The scars are quite evident. Blue tarps are still covering countless roofs along the interstate, be it a mobile home, a business, or an RV. Trees lie strewn every which way in the swamps. In one regard, you may be thinking that it’s been months so why aren’t the cleanup efforts progressing further. On the other hand, when an area gets four hurricanes (not to mention the Easter 2020 tornado outbreak) they probably want to wait until the weather’s clear for a while to start cleaning. It’ll be quite a while before the area is “back to normal.” However, to their credit, many of the businesses are open and operating beneath blown-out signs that used to mark their location. Dang hurricanes, indeed. Rodney Crowell’s “Stars on the Water,” which has been covered by a number of people (including Jimmy Buffett and George Strait):