Any of you who live in the United States and watch the weather at all probably know that at this very moment most of the state of Florida is being battered by hurricane Ian. For a few days after returning to Florida from my Alaska trip, it was looking like Ian would make landfall very near to where I live. A high pressure zone that has been coming down from the north has kept it from coming up this far, and instead it has made landfall about 200 miles south of here. It’s a very large storm, so we are definitely still seeing some effects. Right now we’re seeing some wind and we’re getting quite a bit of rain, but it’s nothing too bad. From all the weather information I’m seeing I don’t think it’s going to get much worse than what we’re seeing right now unless Ian takes an unexpected swing north.

I work for the animal shelter in our county, so when a storm is headed our way we open our shelter to house animals of people who are going to the emergency shelters at the local schools. That usually means being open for quite some time after hours in case that’s when people need to come in. During hurricane Irma, back in 2017 we did have quite a few people who came to the shelters after hours. We usually open fairly early before things get too bad, too, especially for people with special needs or medical equipment that requires electricity. As soon as the human shelters open, we do, too. So we were here last night for quite awhile after hours, but didn’t have anyone in need of our services. Since it was quiet , I took advantage of the open area around us to watch the sunset. Frequently storm clouds can lead to a really striking sunset, and last night did not disappoint. The above image was taken just before the sunset color started to fade away. The sun was actually below the horizon, but the clouds reflected it’s last light magnificently. Within about three minutes of this photo the color had completely faded to black, so I was happy to have been outside in the right place at the right time.

Tonight, with the rain and heavy cloud cover, there won’t be much of a sunset. In fact, we really haven’t seen much of the sun in the Sunshine State today. Fortunately for us, since the weather hasn’t been as bad as expected, business is still slow and people are able to stay in their homes with their animals. My thoughts and prayers go out to those people south of us that are experiencing the brunt of this hurricane, though.