Alright, I don't see you quite yet. It's the calm before the storm, but as a new Floridian, I'm half excited and half nervous. Let's hope the first half outweighs the other.

I've been in Florida for a couple of years but I missed hurricane Dorian once it changed course. That said, I was part of a group of volunteers deployed to Freeport, Grand Bahama to provide humanitarian relief—an experience I will never forget. The devastation our Bahamian neighbors experienced was beyond gut-wrenching. And now Isaias is right on them.

As Dorian loomed last year, I freaked out, so much so that I think I exhausted my freak-out reserves. Yet that somehow served me well. I've taken all the precautions I did last year and am ready for Isaias. If I've failed to prepare as a newbie, I'll write about it after the storm. It's an odd trial-and-error type of learning, and the stakes are high, depending on the weather.

Funny—emails, tweets and alerts keep coming in about the storm, as the view outside my window is a midsummer's night dream.

I guess that's the difference between fear and caution. The first is a primitive and necessary response—it armors you up, but if you suspend reason, the consequences can be catastrophic. Caution, on the other hand, has the same benefits of fear in a physiological sense (the alertness and armoring up), but reason masters the primitive responses so as to persevere. I opt for caution, although my life has conditioned me to obey fear.

No more.

It’s ironic my first full-on hurricane should start with an "I."

Isaias, hello—pleased to meet you. I'm just grateful they didn't name you Ivy, or else I would flee to safer ground. Thank goodness I have my sense of humor to keep me company. Speaking of which…

Worth writing down

I see you, Isaias