Lovely, Rita

I did not intend to sit around talking about the weather all the time but it certainly is beyond freaky lately. Somewhere between Key West, Fla. and Galveston, Texas churns a Category 5 hurricane that at this moment is the third-largest U.S. storm on record. Katrina killed more than 1,000 people in New Orleans and Mississippi just three weeks ago and damn nearly wiped New Orleans off the map. If Rita hits land in a couple of days still classified as a Cat 5, well, it's hard to imagine what could happen. Right now, it tracks to near Galveston.

All of this, naturally, brings to mine the cinematic tour de force that is "The Day After Tomorrow" - the disaster flick released a year or two ago that saw the United States pretty much north of the Mason-Dixon line submerged under a block of ice. Presumably, millions died - the president included - but the film ended all happy and fun with the surviving millions camped out in Mexico, apparently drunk on margaritas, celebrating the irony. You know, the irony of Americans taking residence in Mexico. Ha ha! Ohhhh, irony. Heh. *sigh*

Hopefully this won't happen with Rita.