Mother Knows Best

I read on CNN that a tropical depression has strengthened into Tropical Storm Chantal. My initial response was a sigh of relief. No, not because of the impending storm - I've seen the damage that can follow and wouldn't wish that on anyone. My sigh was for personal reasons. Each year the Hurricane Council links a name to 21 letters of the alphabet. To differentiate, anytime a depression becomes a storm, the next name on the list is assigned. Again this year, the letter C is not represented by my name.

Whew!

So I visited my online best friend, Google, to find out if the seas have ever experienced the wrath of Charlotte. I wasn't too surprised to find my name has never been assigned. I mean, come on, I am the peaceful one at my house. If anything, some committee should name sunsets after me. or class 1 rivers. or country roads... Oh, and speaking of names, how does one end up on the Hurricane Council? I have friends who fret for months over the name of their future child. This council has to come up with 21 names every year. Not a job for the indecisive. And one more thing, how come they don't use names like Charika, Cedric, Cornelius, or Candy? Those are good C names for good people. I bet those C-peeps feel left out.

Ah, I digress. I ran a quick search using my sibling's names. The results were split 50/50. Some of us more mature siblings do not share names with any type of natural disaster. The other half do - which makes sense. When situations at home become cloudy and an argument is in the forecast, winds can reach a speed of 65 words per minute and the barometer can blow a gasket with all the pressure buildup. Not to mention the rise in humidity due to flying spittle.

In 2001, the year Shelly turned 13, the seas expressed their concern with crashing waves and strong winds. In 2012 P2 will have his turn at bay. Perhaps that year I'll get married and the storm will rage about 2.5 seconds after I hand my dad the bill. The most fitting, though, was Tropical Storm Dean in 1983.

Let's see...I was born in '79...TheDeanInc is two years younger than me...that puts him born in 1981...Tropical Storm Dean was in '83 which is two years later...TheDeanInc would have been in his terrible twos...yep, Mother is always right. Mother Nature in this case.