Everyone whom I have encountered today, whether while bicycling, while awaiting the elevator or by email, has unanimously proclaimed the rapturous magnificence of this autumn day! My singular communication with a new acquaintance has bountifully introduced me to an equally unique poet named Gerald Manley Hopkins (1844 – 1889). He is reminiscent of John Keats (1795 – 1821) even William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616).

Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
Shakespeare, Macbeth.

Pied Beauty
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.

When the weather is as perfect as it is today it is easy to become distracted from the peril endured by those hit by Hurricane Ian. Its changing path has revived my interest in Hilton Head Island, SC since it now appears to be under threat.

Hurricane Ian is currently a hurricane that is threatening The Carolinas, having already struck the Cayman Islands, western Cuba, and the Florida peninsula. It is the ninth named storm, fourth hurricane, and second major hurricane of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season.

September 29, 2022 at 12:50 pm

Just in from the National Hurricane Center:

Tropical Storm Ian is projected to upgrade to a hurricane. The coast of South Carolina, to include Hilton Head Island, are now under a hurricane warning.

The storm is moving into the Atlantic Ocean with sustained winds at around 70 miles per hour. its traveling north-northeast at 9 miles per hour. What does this mean? A Hurricane Warning is issued when sustained winds of 74 mph or higher associated with a tropical cyclone are expected in 36 hours or less. These winds may be accompanied by storm surge, coastal flooding, and/or river flooding.

Years ago we visited Hilton Head Island after it had been hit by a tropical storm or hurricane (I can’t remember which or when). While the lingering evidence of the storm was palpable, it was primarily (if indeed not exclusively) located in areas of dense vegetation.  The remainder of the island was almost perfectly restored.  Structures which had been damaged were undergoing repair.