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- Updates from the Islands -- - Antigua - - |
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| - AN AMAZING EVENT EXPLORERS CLUB 2001 DINNER |
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Some of you have
emailed asking WHAT WE DO WHEN WE ARE not following HURRICANES...and what our
lives are like the rest of the year! .. Life is pretty "normal" like
the rest of you all....but from time to time there is a extraordinary
event and this one is worth sharing!!.... hope you enjoy it...
AN AMAZING EVENING!! experienced for the
second time in my life!!!
I’ve just
returned to Antigua from New York where I attended the 97th Annual Dinner of the
EXPLORERS CLUB on Saturday,
March 26th, 2001; a black tie event, which was sold out and was
described as the hottest event in New York City this past weekend! 1200 “explorers” and guests were
seated at tables of 8 in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldolf Astoria Hotel on Park
Avenue! The evening honored
“GREAT EXPLORATIONS OF THE 20th CENTURY”. This is something too exciting and
wonderful to keep to myself so I want to share it with my buddies who could not
experience this! For those who want
to enjoy the visual aspect some digital photos are attached. (digitals attached – (1) baby lion cub on show (hugging his
tender!! ) (2) Diners
sharing this experience with me
(martha in center) (3) JIM FOWLER of THE WILD KINGDOM (see more
below) The evening started with cocktails and “exotic” hor douves which included wine marinated lightly roasted tarantulas (yes…spiders!), barbequed scorpion canapés on toastettes (hey, here in Antigua we have tarantulas – locally called horse spiders- and scorpions so I have some new cocktail recepies); also on the menu, Mealworm sushi (yes; worms in the middle of the sushi roll) and roasted crickets on toast with a dollop of honey (thank goodness for the honey!). Meats were Alligator a la Creole, rocky mountain oysters, beaver, kangaroo, caribou, bear chunks, wild boar sausage and turtle meat… and other too numerous to name STRANGE THINGS (and some too strange to eat!). I really did eat the scorpion…but could not stomach the tarantula -- I know…sissy, my brothers would say). Diners were then piped into the dining room by the New York Police Force Pipers… The dinner menu was not as “exotic”, thank goodness… but was a dining delight with Smoked trout & green apple salad appetizer, main course of sliced filet of beef with horseradish whipped potatoes and string beans or sea bass and a dessert of coconut mango gelato topped with chocolate palm trees… mixed with a nice Cabernet Sauvignon… gourmet dining experience… During cocktails, a silent auction was held, which is the main fund raiser of the club, with equally strange things on offer such as a Zero gravity flight for two from the Yuri Gargarin Cosmonaut training Center in Russia on board a llyusin-76 jet outfitted for cosmonaut parabolic flight training (you had to have a medical letter stating you could withstand 3Gs force!!)…. And it was valued at a mere $11,000! (Did not bid on this one…) then there was a $27,000 trip to Peru (all first class) to explore the ancient Inca ruins (another I passed on)… You could adopt a Siberian tiger for life thru the Wildlife Conservation Society. I had donated 5 nights in TREETOPS, our guest cottage, (a repeat from last year when a young engaged couple bid on and won and came to Antigua on their honeymoon; as I was tour guide, I had a super time on their honeymoon!!) No sure who the winner is this year but hope they are as much fun as the honeymoon couple!
I met some fascinating people during the
course of the evening. Girl Power
was very evident among the
“explorers”.
One very attractive
young woman I chatted with is studying grizzle bears in the high altitudes of
Yellowstone Park and spends months
camping in the region documenting them; another, HARA, has written several
books on African wild life. A
highlight was meeting JIM FOWLER of THE WILD KINGDOM who was part of the
program (see
below). I
think everyone in attendance had done something strange and wonderful and the
entire evening was filled with meeting people like this! The
program was equally fascinating with an audio visual presentation on a large
screen … one breathtaking sequel (which I saw as young girl, but had forgotten
the impact it makes) was THE first Step of man ON the moon… AND THIS WAS
FOLLOWED BY speaker NEIL ARMSTONG…THE MAN WHO was the first to land ON THE
MOON. CBS’s own Walter
Cronkite who had covered this historic moment on national TV introduced
him. Some of
the other speakers were Dr Caroline Alexander, a Rhodes scholar who has
published five books including several on the SHACKLETON legendary Antarctic
expedition (enhanced by a breathtaking audio visual on the artic
adventure.) CONRAD
ANKER, a climber specializing in the most technically challenging terrains
possible, shared his adventures, including Patagonia, Alps and massive Himalayas
peaks. During a climb in 1999 he
actually DISCOVERED the body of George Mallory, the preeminent Everest explorer
of the 1920s. His disappearance had
been one of mountaineering’s great mysteries and the find was significant. Marine Biologist
Dr. Sylvia Earle (horary president of the Club) shared some
of Her exciting adventures. She holds lots of diving records
including deep ocean exploration. And SIR
WALLY HERBERT, the greatest polar explorer of our time, spoke; he is known for
an epic 3800-mile trek with 3 companions and forty dogs, making the first
surface crossing of the Arctic Ocean…now recorded as “the last great journey on
earth” Jim
Fowler of WILD KINGDOM was there and brought along some of his “furry and feathered friends (as he does every year) including
several Birds of prey (which took to flight among the audience) and an adorable
2 week old baby wolf pup (wanted to bring him back to the islands!) There was a baby lion cub (see
digital attached) and a Celebes
ape. There were also 2 young camels
(don’t know if the carpet of the Waldolf will be the same!!)
The
entire evening was filled with excitement and unusual happenings and is one I
won’t soon forget. This
was the second year I attended and I hope to make this an annual event in my
life, as it is an evening not to be missed.
I do some wonderful and wild
things in my adventures in the islands and around the world, (which I sometimes question…) but being part of such an evening reimburses
the quote from Teddy Roosevlet…
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, even though chequered by
failure, than to dwell in that perpetual twilight that knows not victory nor
defeat.” So on to more adventures! |
| - YELLOW BIRD PHOTO RESENT |
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SORRY again ... the YELLOW BIRD PHOTO IN LAST TRANSMISSION DID NOT ATTACH as a jpeg so would not load...am resending... refer to text in previous msg.. |
| - COCKATOO PHOTO |
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SORRY GUYS.....this was the COCKATOO PHOTO I MEANT TO SEND in my last message.. the other was TOO DARK!!! |
| - OUT OF SEASON CHAT |
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OK... FOR THE BIRD LOVERS OUT THERE... I know those of you who enjoy
our island reports think we have forgotten you out of HURRICANE
SEASON....... I recently had an email from one of the supporters of the
Hurricane reporting page asking What's happening and what WE DO IN "off
season"...
so am just sending a word to all of you..... and a couple of
photos along... Life goes on here in "paradise" with no worry of
HURRICANES just now... (guess JUNE 1st - official START of Hurricane
Season-- will be here real soon!!) and in "birdland" my feathered
creatures continue to thrive...have about 8 baby lovebirds in the nest now
and lots of eggs!
Antigua is VERY VERY DRY just now... we need rain! you can see in the
attached YELLOW BIRD photo the BROWN parched hillside beyond... But it is
still beautiful to wake up to SUNSHINE and warm weather when so many of you
are living in FREEZING conditions!! sorry about that guys!
The YELLOW BIRD pic is of a GROWN up baby love bird... a baby shot of
her was posted some time ago in my reports if you refer back............and
the WILD COCKATOO pic is my beautiful free flying Moluccan cockatoo
(Maxcine).... who just came in for her breakfast... she normally lives in
the "bush" and has actually SURVIVED TWO HURRICANES during the blows (you
can read about her during the storms in the archive reports) I do try to
catch her if a hurricane is coming but she HATES to be caged...and that
is why she is FREE FLYING........ My other cockatoo.. "E.C." (for Exotic
Cockatoo) is looking on in the background......she was raised from 14
days old and is not "street smart" so can't survive in the wild...she has
been attacked once by a mongoose when I did give her that freedom...
therefore can't chance her being free...am sorry to say......
So there you have it...a bit of catch up of life in
paradise....thanks for thinking of us down here... or over here...
depending where you are!!! until...........
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| - Update |
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WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
58MPH YESTERDAY.
SQUALLY--------------EVEN TOO MUCH FOR MOST
WINDSURFERS.
ALL STILL KICKING DOWN
HERE.
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| - 2000 season over (officially) |
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Hi, As this is the lasdt day of the "official" Hurricane season, I am just saying hello and good-bye until next June if all stays well. Antigua was fortunate this year and I hope it can stay like this for a few more years. Take care everyone. Alan B. Scholl |
| - END OF HURRICANE SEASON 2000!!........ |
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END OF HURRICANE SEASON.............. It is officially DEC 1... but i will be off island.....in the big apple.....so think we are close enough to declare it over now.....!! so much to be thankful for.......as we did not get hit this year!! my wonderful free flying birds especially lucky..... and to keep some of you amused... couple of shots of them in their elements......... thank goodness they did not have to face the wicked wind this year!! |
| - EXCITING TOUR MIAMI NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER |
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Well we are over "THE 2000 SEASON".... and to wrap it up I recently had
a very exciting, special tour arranged for me through the Hurricane
Hunters, of the MIAMI NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER .... this is mission
control and what goes into action when a hurricane is approaching. In the
attached slide VISIT TO NAT HURRICANE CENTER you will see the "hot spot"
room where the big decisions happen as to what will be next... Note
the bank of telephones on the left.......these are the phones by which
our islands are contacted to GET READY if the experts think we are in
the path!! In the other attachment HURRICANE CTR HURR HUNTER MISS
CTR.... X AirForce, (and former Hurricane Hunter) John Pavone,
pictured , is one of three Hurricane Hunter aircraft Coordinators who
puts the guys into action when the vital info the Hurricane Hunter
Aircrafts provide is needed. He shared insight into how it all links
together and I am now so well informed on HURRICANES I think I will
change jobs !!
Anyway, it is nice to know we have such good technical coverage ;
guess we can relax for the next 6 months or so... There won't be much to
report on weather wise...... for a while, thank goodness.......... Thanks
to those of you who have been concerned and followed us this season and
am glad we did not have to share the story of a wild wind coming our way
this time around!!
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| - ANTIGUA EXPLORATIONS |
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IT'S a BEAUTIFUL CARIBBEAN DAY... and This time last year (Actually on
the 13th)... HURRICANE LENNY was about to form.. so... since we don't have
hurricane adventures to tell you (THANK GOODNESS) will share a few
explorations done this weekend...
Antigua has some beautiful mangrove swamps that can be explored in
small boats and i discovered one last weekend.... will share some of the
photos of the adventure..... and also a "sea cave" along the shoreline..
still looking for Capt. Kidds treasure hidden someplace!
Other Photos attached..... MANGROVE SWAMP IAN....shows us
penetrating the interior as we paddled in..
MANGROVE INTERIOR
shows the beautiful root systems ....mangroves are
filled with bird life, nests, tiny fish finding
shelter.....and.... maybe the "swamp thing" i kept looking for... ..as it
was a bit irey deep inside with little light penetrating......
last photo is MANGROVE
SWAMP AND OTHER WOMAN.....mother ship awaiting our return from the
exploration...... as the only way to penetrate the mangroves we were in
was to leave the mother ship behind and paddle in on a windsurfing board
(hoping it did not flip!)
To wonderful island adventures! better than hurricanes!
hope you enjoy the journey!
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| - BABY BIRD PROGRESS |
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I THINK THIS IS BETTER THAN EARTHQUAKES!!.. Three will soon be coming out of the nest!! This is the same flock I sent a week ago! Enjoy..... This digital photograph was sent from MGI PhotoSuite II: The Complete PC Photography Experience. Visit http://www.mgisoft.com for more information. |
| - THREE EARTHQUAKES!!! |
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OK.....for those of you bored with my feathered friends and softer
things.....here's some excitement from our little corner of the world.......
guess it cant get too quiet down here..... it seems to be hurricanes,
earthquakes or volcanoes!!!
i thought this was one that might wake up the BOYS IN THE BACK room.....
and would expect them to give you the run down... but maybe they had a late
night poker game!!
At 2:57 p.m. today (18:57 UCT) Antigua had THREE
EARTHQUAKES.....well....there was some time in between.......... but not
much...... it was located 40 miles ese of Antigua at 17.41 N and 61.24 W
at a depth of 41.9 km (deeper than I will dive to!!)....... it scared some
of us enough....and last time we had a real tremor my swimming pool sprung
a leak... but so far water has not gone down!!! For scientific
details ck out
http://wwwneic.cr.usgs.gov/current_seismicity.shtml
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| - 15 day old baby love birds |
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Still beautiful weather here in paradise! Maybe we will make it thru
NOVEMBER with no hurricane as OCT nearly done......
and just to keep those of you who like feathered friends up on the
growth of my new borns....beautiful yellow feathers popping out daily on 3
of the 5 ! wont be long until these will be flying around!
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| - 14 baby love birds! |
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THIS IS UNIQUE PIC!!... from 5 different mothers! they are all hand raised so allow easy handling of their babies and even allow me to hand feed them to help out. Note the oldest baby trying to feed another baby!!! Isn't nature wonderful! |
| - 5 baby love birds 9 days old! |
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FRIDAY OCTOBER 20th.....one year ago today around mid day the EYE OF HURRICANE JOSE passed directly over Antigua! so today... when it is like a summer day here in Antigua we are thankful nothing is looming out there and we are enjoying beautiful tropical weather....... but... GOODNESS where has the rest of this week gone since I posted something on Tuesday... ... and the past 9 days with baby birds growing up has flown by.. thought some of you may like to see their growth so am attaching a 9 day old pic!!! Looks like October may slip by with only good weather! HURRAY!! |
| - FLAT CALM MAGNIFICENT SEA!!!! |
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IF I DID NOT KNOW BETTER I WOULD THINK THIS IS THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM!!! Our Antigua weather is FLAT CALM... can see the nearby French island of Guadalupe .....55 miles airport to airport...probably about 36 miles from my cliff on south side to north coast of Guadalupe which I am looking at....(tried to photograph it but my digital not THAT GOOD!!!).. the sea is like a mill pond! was all around the island in my little boat yesterday and got some incredible photos even on the normally rough Atlantic side... was able to go right up a "sea cave" on the open Atlantic side.....and even snorkel into it! (not suggesting any of you try this, not that you would even find the cave!!!) (see photo attached of DRAMATIC SEA CAVE...) it was still swelly...after all it is the open Atlantic side ...but normally you cant get near the cliff! and in the second shot at the CORAL ARCH there is normally rough sea on the windward side when you look through it....and the waves were hardly breaking. we only have a few days a year with flat seas like this.......better go diving today! anyway, tx goodness this is NOT a calm before the storm.......
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| - BACKGROUND ON HURRICANES AND BABY LOVE BIRDS |
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GERT.....(who maintains STORM 2000 and provides all of us with such a valuable service... ) gave his blessing for my posting BIRD STORIES instead of hurricane stories...but in fact, my love birds are HURRICANE RELATED... three tiny babes survived HURRICANE LUIS a few yrs. back in the open air...and inspired me to face the big clean up when my house was blown to bits......The story was written up by Nick Mayley and if you are interested in more ck out...... > www.antiguatoday.com/news/updates/community/martha.html > > > |
| - ONE MORE BABY BIRD ADDED TO THE FLOCK |
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HI AGAIN FROM "PARADISE"....... had some neat responses from several of you who enjoy feathered friends.....so decided to share the newest baby love bird born this morning...same clutch as yesterdays photo....mama bird will sure be busy!! This beats hurricanes any day so hope none of you hurricane freaks are bored by other subjects!! |
| - Four newly hatched love birds |
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SINCE THE LAST SHOT CAME OUT SO WELL AM SENDING another even more amazing one of new life!....... newest part of my wild flock! Newly hatched baby love birds.... the tiny one with black eye hatched this morning!!... this is a much better thrill than a HURRICANE!!!! |
| - LOVEBIRDS WITH BOUGANVILLA |
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Well since John thinks we are forgetting those who may want to ck out life at the hurricane page... will send you something spectacular that is normal DAY TO DAY WHEN THERE IS NOT A HURRICANE.....part of my free flying love bird flock having their morning feed!! Hope this comes thru as i have never tried sending you a pic!!! Life in PARADISE most of the time! |
| - Update |
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the poor old hurricane page hasn't had a posting
for days.how sad.we are all very fickle and forgetful when we're not
threatened.the trouble is that, well, with all this heat and humidity the boys
in the backroom are comatose; and with none of the usual excitement i.e.
hurricanes,earthquakes,volcanos (large ones-because small ones are
incosequential to the boys) or other sleep-disturbers everyone is waiting for
the SEASON--or really resting for it.
SO if you don't hear from us for a while we are
all ok.
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| - Update |
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so far so good all experts confounded |
| - Update |
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spent the evening on a beach on an offshore island.saw 4 hawksbill turtles nesting! still calm here.beautiful night. 1 or 2 showers. i am sure the trinidadians have nothing to worry about. that storm is a maco. |
| - Spared? |
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Hi, Very quiet and calm day. Many of my friends were disappointed that there would not have been a day off due to storm conditions!!! I just hope that the storm does not intensify rapidly as it seriously affect our brothers and sisters in the southern Windward Islands. Based on Intellicast's (http://www.intellicast.com/Tropical ) map, it seems as if storm warnings are in effect for the southern Caribbean including Trinidad. It seems as if we got a break this time although there was a hurricane in the 50's (based on the track history) that actually curved back through the Caribbean Sea and passed pretty close to Antigua. After Lenny's trek last year, who knows? Ciao for now. Alan |
| - Update |
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still flat calm.sea like glass.sunny.will be a scorcher.1 or 2 cbs around. looks like joyce will go south.barbados and maybe st.vincent.hopefully not too strong. big wave coming off africa. |
| - Update |
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intensely hot today.still flat calm.sunny of course.sea and beaches beautiful. dew on the grass now (1031pm) all's quiet.shhh----don't wake up the boys. |
| - Update |
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flat calm.hot.sultry.sunny. on a day just like today--8 oct 1974 at 5:52am-we had a 7.25 earthquake.much more terrifying than an hurricane. joyce is 4 days away-if she is coming at all to our neighbourhood at all. |
| - Update |
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flat calm.hot.humid.high clouds. joyce looks puny and so far "we don't fraid she" the windwards are seriously threatened and even a weak hurricane wreaks havoc in the windwards because of the fragility of the banana plant-the mainstay of the southern islands.bananas in the french islands are insured by the govt. but not so in the others. the boys say that joyce is wearing a flimsy dress and she is nothing but skin and bone. maybe she'll fatten up and take on somebody her own size. |
| - HERE WE GO AGAIN???? |
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hurricane Joyce it
is!!!!...........but we knew that was coming...... and
now to closely watch the path ...we all know what we have to do if
we have to do it.... but still a
drag!!!
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| - !!! Hurricane JOYCE !!! |
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Hi, ok she has attained hurricane status. The track from this graphic has it curving slightly northwest between 29-sep-1200Z and 30-sep-1200Z: http://nlmoc1.nlmoc.navy.mil/newpage/tropical/al142000.gif This puts more on course with the northern leewards! Alan B. Scholl |
| - Joyce approaches! |
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Hi, Everyone here is getting a bit nervous. Most people have the "here we go again" feeling and by now we know the drill. It is yet a few days off so there is no hammering yet but should this suddenly turn north, I think there will be a rush. Based on our near brush with DEBBIE earlier, I think supplies and preparation will be minimal if necessary. We wait and see. Alan B. Scholl |
| - WEATHER!!! |
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GOODNESS......go away for a
few days and look what develops! ....good to know the back room boys
are keeping an eye out ! JOYCE sure
looks like she will hit some of us.....just a question of how far
north she may turn....and how long she tantalizes us dancing round out
there.. and there is something behind her even! SEPTEMBER
REMEMBER is sure correct (as part of the
island jingle on hurricanes....... JUNE TOO SOON
JULY
STAND BY
AUGUST
IT MUST
SEPTEMBER
REMEMBER
OCTOBER
ALL OVER......
except last yr. October all
over was not true since we had JOSE in October and LENNY
in NOVEMBER!!! anyway.....Joyce
sure has the attention of all the Windward and Leewards so the
next week will be a hurricane watching one... and those of u
who like to read the islanders little snippets of info here
will have plenty to amuse you!
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| - Update |
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joyce it is. my stream of consciousness tells me to wake up the boys in the backroom and look for some three inch nails. |
| - TD 14 |
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Yikes! Just when we were about to breathe a sigh of relief along comes TD#14 to change all that. With Isaac above it, it seems as if it is being squeezed westward. This of course could result in its track passing through the Antilles. We wait and see. Alan B. Scholl |
| - Update |
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now comes t.d.14. it's path is of concern to the boys.she seems to be refusing to take the right fork. nhc says she'll be joyce in 72 hours. will she go for the bananas down south or for the bamboo up here? working for the yankee dollar. |
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