By Rick Boettger

Three quick topics.

We’re in the doldrums. In the 30 years I’ve lived here, I have never seen less wind or fewer people. Old Town streets with 20 empty parking spaces. When Cynthia and I went to a fine restaurant on Duval Sunday night, we were the only table. They closed the moment we left at eight.. On our sundown walk last night, there was not a single car, bike, walker, or even a bird. It is a ghost town, made eerie by an unprecedented stretch of dead-calm days—beating the old record by a factor of three, I reckon.

Our new Mayor won by taking the high road against the nastiest mail and online attacks since Barbara Bowers was slandered decades ago. I contacted Sam’s campaign early on to warn them. I told them about Barb, and how John Kerry took the high road only to pay a devastating price for it. Like Barbara’s old team, Sam’s camp told me it was the candidate’s decision. Warrior Kerry wanted to go to war immediately, but his advisors talked him out of it. Even as a big-mouth top donor, I buttoned my lip and resigned myself to another shellacking.

But look at my new unicorn! Both of my front yard signs, Sam and Chris, WON! It is a true Black Swan with a horn on its head.

More magical juju comes from El Niño, which is stifling our superheated oceans and dumping deluges on the mainland. Even better juju lies in the upcoming named storms. “Statistics show that Sally, Isaias, and Teddy are the names to fear most; their historical counterparts produced major, destructive hurricanes. On the flip side, Josephine, Vicky, and Wilfred are the names to hope for because they are statistically the ‘luckiest’ and have never reached hurricane strength.”*

Now I have something specific to watch out for—which is far better than a fuzzy ball of fear.

*Thanks, Gemini., 

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