Ready! Set! Wait? ...And Maybe Learn

This is what I've spent the last week looking at. Closely inspecting. Trying to dissect and understand. This is Hurricane Ike. I had lofty hopes for this hurricane. But alas, I am once again, disappointed. ABC News, which sent me to New Orleans for Gustav and then on to Atlanta for Ike, finally decided to send me home.

I am terribly typical of my industry in that I do get more interested in things as their "disaster quotient" goes up. But I think in this case, I am content to hope for clear blue skies.

As I made my way out of New Orleans last Wednesday I had to drive because the airport was still closed. With only a few residents of New Orleans and south Louisiana allowed to return home, they really couldn't reopen at that time. But I was feeling just the slightest bit cheated. Gustav fizzed to a Cat 1 and I was disappointed to be going away without having been witness to a "real" hurricane as it struck land near my location.

But as I drove I listened to the local talk radio station. The talk show host was taking calls from local people trying desperately to get home. Those people were trying so hard to find gas for sale to drive back and see what was left of their homes. They were being kept out by the City of New Orleans leaders and police enforcing a tight curfew; by lack of fuel to get home; and by lack of resources to purchase the fuel and food they would need in a city that had precious little provisions once they got there.

It was hard to hear those voices, so full of longing to see and touch their homes again. They just wanted to be once again, in familiar surroundings and get back to normal life. They wanted home and family and maybe a little quiet dinner on the table in the family kitchen.

Aren't those the things that we all want? I know that after waiting in Atlanta for 5 days, I longed to be at home.

So tonight, as Ike leaves parts of Cuba in ruins, I look at that picture above and ponder how something beautiful from a distance could be deadly down below.

And I think maybe... if I am very lucky... it will slide out into the Gulf and never return to land.

I Went to a Hurricane...

...and it was a bit of a wash. Pun intended.

So after two days of Gustav ("the Hurricane that wasn't" -- at least in New Orleans) I went to the airport to fly home to LA.

The airport was closed, so I called ABC and drove to Atlanta to visit some favorite (and sadly neglected friends, Bob and Cindy and their two kids) friends.

Enroute there, I got a call about a job. A full-time job that I had applied for. Funny story there, but that's for another day.

I drove to Cindy and Bob's house. Emailed ABC and said "I'm here until Sunday, if you need any additional help." Emailed back to the people with the job and flew to their office on Thursday.

I met with them on Friday (horrifically nice people. Really splendid!) and then flew back to Atlanta where I got a message from ABC News saying, "Yes, we will take advantage of having you in Atlanta. Please go to Miami on Monday to cover Hurricane Ike."

Do you feel sorry for Bob and Cindy yet?

Anyway, early on Monday, I will fly to Miami. And until then, I'm going to try to make it up to Bob and Cindy for all the past neglect and recent abuse of their patience.

Have a great week! Live shots from Miami and Hurricane Ike begin at 5am EST/CST/MST/PST on your local stations.

Gone for the "Holiday" Weekend...

Hey, I'm almost out of here. I just want to throw down on the pilates mat for 45 minutes, then grab a quick shower and I'm gone.

I'm off to Hurricane Gustav with ABC News. Please tune in and watch on your local stations. My coverage starts Saturday evening from New Orleans. Then again LIVE on Sunday morning. I had such a good time covering the floods, but this will be a different kind of assignment for me. I'm excited, but... curious, too.

I've never been to a Hurricane. I've always wanted to go. I joke with the bosses at ABC that "I pay extra for hurricane coverage!"

So I'm off. With a shoulder bag crammed full of waders, full rain gear, boots, two hats (Neither of which "Shame on you!" have the ABC logo on them. Oh well.) and notebooks that will have to be stuffed into ziplog bags before they can be used. They do take me to such glamorous locations around the globe, don't you agree?

I've got a bag of raw almonds, a box of nutrition bars, some "meat stix" (scary!) and my beloved Crystal Lite with caffeine.

Please pray for those poor people in New Orleans. And me. Because if you know me, you know what I'm praying for.

Have a great Labor Day weekend! I'll be laboring.