“In the eye of the Hurricane, there is quiet” is the first line from the song Hurricane in the musical Hamilton (click here for the song). Since you may have a quieter day today, I highly recommend watching the entire musical, it is one of our family’s favorites. As Helene has crept from the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico this week, that song has been running through my head. “In the eye of the Hurricane, there is quiet.” There is nothing like a hurricane, or anything else that cancels everything we were sure we had to do, to force us to have a quieter day. While I would never wish for a hurricane, and our prayers go out to folks in the Panhandle that are in the direct path of this powerful storm, a moment to remember that in the midst of chaos there can be quiet and there can be calm is my deep thought for today.

Mother Nature sure works quickly. I actually did have a weather story written for today; I’d put it together last week, but it wasn’t about a hurricane! Leading into the past weekend, there was talk of a possible storm forming, but with nothing on the radar, it seemed like just talk. I actually flew to Dallas for an annual meeting of garden center owners and had to leave early to get back before the storm. As I was preparing to leave, changing flights, and figuring out my schedule, one of my siblings sent this meme to our group chat:

And that’s Florida for you. Raining on one side of the street and not the other. Heater on in the morning, A/C in the afternoon. First day of fall, hurricane.

Be safe today. Use the quiet. Relish the pause. We’ll be closed and hunkering down at home just like you. Burning through our hurricane snacks and probably watching Hamilton, assuming the power stays on. And as we weather another storm, we’re still gearing up for Fall Kickoff this Saturday at the nursery. Helene will be gone, hopefully the skies will be blue, and we will kick off fall the Florida way. See below for all the details, and we can’t wait to see you on Saturday!