Run from the water, hide from the wind(bags)

Hurricane Ike is whirling his way towards the Texas coast as I write this. Mandatory evacuation orders are now in effect on Galveston Island and in several Texas counties. Elsewhere, people who are planning to stay put are rushing like mad to stock up on last-minute hurricane readiness supplies. Some of the talking heads on TV are predicting that Ike could get up to a Category 4 before he's done.

But gosh, that's focusing on the negative, and what good is that going to do for any of us?

Ron and I are fairly far inland here at the Edge of Nowhere, and we're on relatively high ground, but we're still expecting 85~100 mph winds and maybe eight inches of rain within the next couple of days. We've stocked up on provisions and plan to ride it out at The Ranch, but we will still be prepared to evacuate if necessary.

Oh, there I go focusing on the negative again. And there's really no reason to do that.

After all, we have the top hurricane handlers in the world working on this situation even as I write this. For example, here's Joe "Mr. Fire" Vitale's recent Tweet on Twitter:

Maybe this stopped Rita; maybe it can stop Ike. Please forward this: http://tinyurl.com/55wdvb

I have to say that when I saw that, I was thrilled. Wow, I thought, Mr. Fire is conducting a special hurricane taming just for Ike, even though the Hill Country where he lives isn't really in danger! Hmmm, maybe I misunderestimated him! Maybe he really is an altruist!

So I followed the link, and what do you think? Did he create a whole entire new special message for Ike? Alas, no – he is merely recycling his "Help Me Stop Rita" message from September 2005.

I was momentarily disappointed. But then I read that old article again, with its eloquent plea for everyone reading the words to send love and light to Texas. And I read the follow-up, written a few days later:

I sent out my plea the other day
(above) to help stop hurricane Rita

That letter got more positive replies than anything I've ever written. Hundreds wrote to me. Thousands forwarded it around the net. The positive energy it generated was like a white tornado of love.

The result was Rita dropped from a terrifying category 5 hurricane to a category 2 by the time it hit land. It changed direction, too. It never hit Houston, which had panicked and evacuated. It never hit here, either.

This morning -- the day Rita was to hit our area -- Nerissa and I sat on the porch and watched the cats play in the yard. It's sunny and clear out right now. There isn't even a drop of rain.

Did our combined positive efforts make the key difference?

What do you think?

I remembered Rita, and how scared we all were of her, and how Mr. Fire's meditation must have made a difference because, gosh, Rita scarcely did any damage at all.

So, recycled or not, if it worked once, it should probably work again!

Also helping in the hurricane-taming effort is Phoenix/Spirit Diva, the lady who talks to hurricanes and lets them talk to her. Neither she nor the storms are particularly good spellers, but their hearts (and presumably their eyes) are in the right place. Hurricanes, I've learned from her, just want to be loved like you and me.

And you can bet that Spirit Diva and her group of earnest meditators are on Ike like horny old church ladies on a new widower. SD is claiming credit, on behalf of herself and her group, for the fact that Ike has been relatively well behaved so far. But he's a stubborn fellow, this Ike, and the hurricane whisperers will be holding another Ike chat tomorrow night (Friday 12 September) at 8:00 PM Eastern Time. I just received another email from Spirit Diva last night:

Thanks to all who joined previous Hurricane Ike meditations as well the earlier ones. Thankfully he heard and honored our prayers and meditations. Ike took the path of least destruction for the highest and best good for all concerned as he passed over Cuba. Although, he created huge storm surges and destruction of many buildings already in poor condition, he shifted his direction to the south coast rather than middle of Cuba and there were only two deaths directly related to his presence.

WE'VE SUCCESSIVELY DONE IT BEFORE For those who haven't participated with us in the past, please know that our meditations, along with countless others, make a difference. In addition to Gustav, we've successfully participated in prayer and meditation events to transform the path and intensity of several hurricanes and typoons [sic] in the past five years, including Fay, Dolly, Hanna, Dean, Felix, Ivan, Jeanne, Frances, Rita, Wilma and Alberto. We've seen them shift direction and decrease enegy [sic] within minutes of competing our meditations. TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!

Notably absent from that list is Katrina; that's because Spirit Diva didn't find out about her until it was too late. Too bad.

As for Ike hearing and honoring the prayers and meditations of SD and gang, here's what the Scientific American blog reported on September 10:

Ike, which killed 80 people in Haiti and Cuba when it barreled through those islands over the weekend, is a Category 2 hurricane with winds near 100 miles per hour (155 kilometers per hour), according to the weather service. It will become a "major hurricane" in the next 24 hours, the agency said -- possibly strengthening to a Category 3 storm.

Oh, well. I suppose it could have been a lot worse! It could have been 100 people. Or 100,000. Good work, Spirit Diva and fellow meditators!

But I can't help wondering if SD knows she has to share credit with Mr. Fire for taming Rita three years ago...

"Tsk, tsk, Cosmic Connie," some of you are saying. "She has acknowledged the efforts of 'countless others.' Besides, it's not about 'taking credit' for anything. This is all for the greater good of humanity. These good people that you keep making fun of are always focused on that greater good, not on their own little egos like you are."

Yeah, I keep forgetting. I guess my problem is that, to quote an expression my late mom used to use, I've heard the wind blowing from the same direction too many times before.

In any case, I just tuned into the weather report again, and now the talking heads are saying that the chance Ike will become a Cat 4 storm is dwindling. They say his core is weakening, though we're still not out of the woods. The truth is, it's hard to predict what a hurricane will do.

As usual, however, some things are predictable. I predict that if Ike fizzles out, the wind whisperers will imply they had something to do with it. Even if he does a lot of damage, they'll take credit for the fact that he didn't do more damage. Either that, or they'll blame the naysayers and negative thinkers. Or maybe they'll take a cue from David Schirmer and blame Satan.

For now, I'm off to help batten down the hatches, just as soon as I can figure out where the hatches are, and exactly what "battening" means.
PS ~ Just in case you want to join Spirit Diva and her gang Friday night, here are the meditation details:

When: Friday, September 12, 8:00 PM EST (see Time for yours)
How: Telephone
Call: 218-339-4600
Access Code: 112398#

And if you want to try talking to Ike yourself, here are tips from Spirit Diva on how to do it.

PPS ~ The picture above is from the Scientific American blog.

************

Update (12 September):
The storm is getting closer. The skies are growing darker, the wind is picking up, the horses are acting a little crazier, and the hummingbirds on our front porch are frantically buzzing around the feeders. Well, the hummingbirds are always frantic, so I guess that doesn't prove anything. Still, the signs are everywhere that Ike is approaching.

One major sign is that every ten minutes or so, one of the news stations has another story about one or another group of Darwin Awards contenders who deliberately chose to ignore evacuation orders and are now out there frolicking in the weather, grinning and waving into the cameras, and having a good old time watching the approaching storm. Some have kids with them and are letting the little tykes run around and throw rocks and sticks into the rapidly rising waters. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But don't get me started...

Oh, but there's good news, Dear Ones. I just learned of yet another hurricane tackler. He's Glen B. Stewart, "The Father of Hurricane Reduction," and what do you know, he was initially inspired to get into hurricane dissipation by Mr. Fire's "Help Me Stop Rita" campaign in 2005.
(And by the way, Mr. Fire apparently did send out a special "Help Me Stop Ike" message to those on his list (for some reason, I'm not on it any more. Go figure.). The subject line was: "Help Me Stop Ike: An Urgent Message From Dr. Joe Vitale of The Secret." )

Anyway, back to the newest star in the hurricane reduction industry, Glen Stewart. In a recent comment on Mr. Fire's blog, Glen wrote:

Hi joe -
Glen here.
In regards to your email “Help Me Stop Ike” ~
I realize that I haven’t stayed in touch lately.
I’ve been SO buzy this year with Hurricane Reductions
and Tropical Storm Dissipations.
I have done 16 successful hurricane reductions in a row
since you gave me the idea 3 short years ago…
Send your readers to this website for Specific Dissipation
details on Hurricane Ike.http://OneWithTheWinds.com/
Humbly speaking - My global team is the Future of Hurricane Relief ~
Live Vibrantly - Stay Dry
- Glen

On his own site, Glen writes:

Global Team - Let’s show Joe the Future of Hurricane Relief by dissipating this one down to a watering service…

And take a look at this, from another page on his site:

As most of you already know, my background as a tireless alternative health researcher and world record shattering athlete has been indeed - very rewarding....
About 3 years ago - My life was blessed with something that still brings a tear to my eye.
I was gifted with the profound ability to unleash my extensive “Mind Over Matter” training to save possibly over 100,000 lives every year. I discovered that I could apply this training to dissipate a deadly hurricane.
Hurricane Rita was my 1st passionate attempt. The results changed my entire life. I had successfully reduced Hurricane Rita from a deadly category 5 Hurricane - To a survivable category 1 hurricane.
15 hurricane reductions later, I still am as passionate in my quest to grow a global team. This has been proven via the Stewart Principle to be far more powerful than the sum of it’s members.

Can you say, "hubris," boys and girls? Or is it "megalomania?"

Unless...wait...maybe Glen is being ironic, and if so, then once again the joke's on me.

But I suspect he's serious, judging from the other posts on his site, such as this one on September 9:

Due to the hurricane reduction style meditations of myself and my global team, Ike is now dissipated down to a category one hurricane. Currently it’s wind speeds are at 80 miles an hour.
Although the Florida Keys are experiencing some of Ike’s rain bands, this one could have been a lot worse for the state of Florida indeed.
Remember that this one has been reduced considerably already - “Ike has been successfully reduced down over 60mph so far…”
I recommend our previous hurricane reduction strategy that worked considerably well with hurricane Gustav...

For some reason, the title of this blog post seems more apt than ever.