Arlene Miller's Blog, page 5

Neurodivergent Words

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

Those of us who are neurodivergent have brains that function a little differently from the neurotypical people. So who among us are neurodivergent? It turns out that there are many “conditions” that are considered neurodivergent:

ADHD – attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderDyslexia – difficulty processing written languageTourette’s –  causes tics and uncontrolled movements and soundsDyspraxia – coordination disorder that affects movementDyscalculia – difficulty understanding numbers and doing mathDown syndromeEpilepsyBipolar disorderObsessive Compulsive DisorderAnxietyDepressionAutism spectrumSynesthesia – stimulation of one sense triggering another sense

How common is neurodivergence? Just for starters, one in forty-four eight year olds are diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. 9.4 percent of the population is diagnosed with ADHD by the age of 18. And 20 percent of the population is dyslexic. 

I am writing this post about neurodivergence  because I wanted to talk about my synesthesia, which I did write about once before, a long time ago. Here are some types of synesthesia, a crossing over of the senses: Seeing colors when you hear music  Tasting food when you see or hear a word  Feeling the shape of food when you bite into it  Seeing colors when you feel emotional about someone  Hearing voices in your head when you read words  Synesthesia is usually present at birth, but it can also develop later in life. It comes from the Greek words synth (together) and ethesia (perception).  Synesthesia is thought to be partially genetic. Estimates of  people with synesthesia range from 1 in 25,000 to 1 in 20. Many people have more than one type of synesthesia. I don’t remember when I realized I had synesthesia, but I was way into adulthood. As a child, like most others with synesthesia, I assumed everyone was like me, and I didn’t really think about it much. Many years later, but  after I knew I had synesthesia, I found a novel in the library and I liked the cover, so I borrowed it. Coincidentally, it was about a music reviewer who was synesthetic and could “see” music as colors and patterns. Reading that book piqued my interest in synesthesia, and that is when I started to do some research into it.  A friend then told me about another novel that was about a synesthetic person, and I read that one, A Mango-Shaped Place. I think I have the most common type of synesthesia: I have always seen letters, numbers, and days of the week — when I picture them in my mind — in color. The colors and numbers are always the same for the specific color or number or day of the week. In fact a couple of letters/numbers appear as an actual character, which also happens for some people. The colors have dimmed as I have gotten older, and some are no longer recognizable. It actually has been found that there is a tendency among people to see certain letters and numbers as the same colors across the board. However, not everyone sees numbers and letters as the same color as others.  For me, S, 6, and Saturday have always been yellow. In fact, S (and possibly 6) are a little girl of about five years old with yellow pigtails. Wednesday is green. Thursday is purple. L is white with a black outline. A seems to be blue, and B seems to be red.  I wish I could see music as colors, since I am such a music fan and dabble in songwriting and piano, but I don’t.  Synesthesia does appear to occur more frequently in those involved in creative careers. Here are some famous synesthetes: Billie Eilish, Billy Joel, Vincent Van Gogh, Pharrell Williams, Duke Ellington, Marilyn Monroe, Franz Liszt, Stevie Wonder, Itzhak Perlman, and Nikola Tesla. Anyone out there reading this with synesthesia? I asked my children. My daughter is not. My son thinks he might be. 

Picking on Pronouns

Pronouns have to be one of the most, if not the most, incorrectly used parts of speech. Their purpose is to take the place of nouns. First of all, there are six different types of pronouns, all with their own special problems.

1. Personal pronouns are the common ones we think of first: I, we, she, he, us, they, etc. “Me and him” and other such utterances used as subjects has become so common, it seems to indicate that the speaker just doesn’t care.  On the other hand, “He saw you and I” seems to be an example of someone who cares too much and knows too little. Sometimes me is actually correct! People also have a problem with the possessives of personal pronouns, usually with it’s and its. Its is the correct possessive. Even though nouns use apostrophes in their possessives, pronouns do not: ours, yours, theirs, hers, his, its. And the I/me issue is that I, we, he, she, and they are used as subjects; me, us, him, her, and them are objects. So when you answer the phone, you say, “It is I,” because the subject pronouns are also used after is.

2. Demonstrative pronouns are this, that, those, and these, used to point out. Just make sure in your writing that the noun or other pronoun these refer to is obvious. Sometimes they are actually demonstrative adjectives: “These are mine” (pronoun). “These shoes are mine (adjective).” Mistakes: Don’t say. “I like these type of shoes.” These is plural and type is singular. It is this type. Also, eliminate these ones from your vocabulary. These is enough.

3. Interrogative pronouns ask a question: who, what, whom, whose, which. The problem here is apparent: the distinction between who and whom. It is just like the personal pronouns. Who is a subject and whom is an object. 

4. Relative pronouns begin clauses. They are which, who, whoses, whom, and that. “I want the smaller  sandwich, which has no tomatoes.” “I want the sandwich that has no tomatoes.” Use which when the clause is not necessary for the meaning of the sentence. And use a comma. Use that when the clause is needed. And use no comma. Use who and whom when the sentence is about people: “My friend, who lives in the next town, is coming to visit.” “My friend, with whom I play baseball, is coming to visit.” Once again, no comma if the clause is necessary to the sentence: “My only friend who doesn’t live in this town is coming to visit.” (That last example assumes they have more than one friend.)  

5. Indefinite pronouns are that grab bag of all, other, either, someone, everything, anyone. anything, none, one, etc. The issue here is usually whether the pronoun is singular or plural. Everyone sounds plural, but it isn’t. “Everyone is coming,” uses a singular verb because all the pronouns like that are singular. We might run into needing the singular they here: “Everyone is reading their book.”  No more he or she or he/she. 

6. Intensive and reflexive pronouns are the ones that end in -self. Correct use: ” I am going by myself.” “You yourself told me that.” Please don’t use a -self pronoun (most often myself) when  you should be using I or me. “Tom and myself are on the committee.” (Tom and I). “She gave all the cookies to my friend and myself.” (my friend and me).

And don’t switch pronouns for no reason: “One should never adopt a cat unless you can take good care of it.”

Well, there is is. Happy pronouning! (Oh, I know it isn’t a word.)

 

Ever Hear an Alligator Roar?

Well, this week’s post is obviously not about grammar, but next week’s will, so don’t worry.

We took a family trip — a long weekend — to St. Augustine, Florida last weekend. I don’t think I had ever been there. I was a little concerned about the five adults and the one shower, but it all worked out. We rented a charming old two-story house  (with very treacherous steps) walkable to downtown.

No, we did not visit The Fountain of Youth, for which St. Augustine is famous, thanks to  Ponce de Leon. We heard it was out of the way and expensive. By the way, St. Augustine is the oldest city in the United States.

We walked on the beach (a little chilly), did a wine tasting, and a free tasting at a distillery where we had about 10 samples. The main drag is Saint George Street, which has no vehicle traffic and is full of restaurants ice cream shops, chocolate shops, gift shops — inclluding a steampunk store — and is a really cute place to visit. We walked up and down St. George several times. 

Saturday night was probably the biggest night of the year on St. George Street and the surrounding areas. It was the Night of a Million Lights, when the holiday lights go on all of the buildings. We saw the people starting to arrive early in the day looking for parking. We were glad we could walk! By evening the streets were so packed you could barely move. And try to find someplace to eat! There is a trolley ride, and that night there were horse-drawn carriage rides. The horses were decked out in their holiday finery. The most impressive was the horse wearing ruby red slippers. I posted a photo of the horse on Facebook, and they covered it, saying it might be too violent or graphic. Go figure!

Oh, yes, the alligator farm. We had to drive there. My daughter, son in-law, and granddaughter had been there a couple of months ago and thought it was worth going to again. It was! So many alligators, along with turtles, birds, etc. I had never heard the sound that alligators make. They have a deep roar that vibrates. I think it is their way of communicating. It was freaky. It sounded like dinosaurs, not that I have ever heard a dinosaur! Of course, I can go into my yard, and sometimes see an alligator in the pond, but it just isn’t the same. They don’t roar over here. 

 

 

Books (Some Banned) That I Have Taught

Image by Square Frog from Pixabay

When I went to junior high and high school, back in the Dark Ages (practically),  we read the worst (in my opinion) books. In junior high English we read Evangeline and Ivanhoe. Not my kind of reading. And then one third of David Copperfield. I guess we didn’t have time for the other two thirds. That was all for Dickens; we didn’t read A Tale of Two Cities. That is all I remember except for a special advanced reading group I was put in. I remember only Thorton Wilder’s Bridge of Saint Luis Rey from that extra class. Those books were more modern and more enjoyable.

High school wasn’t much of an improvement. I remembering reading Moby Dick, which I did not enjoy. And since The Scarlet Letter was banned in my high school, we read The House of the Seven Gables instead. I know I read more books than that in high school English but I don’t remember them. Ullyses? Silar Marner? Who knows?

I taught junior high school, but I student taught in 10th and 12th grades of high school. In the particular 10th grade class I taught in, the teacher read to the students as they sat and ate their lunches, spread out all over their desks. It was the period before lunch.She was reading them the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series.I read one or two books of the series later on. I think I might like to read the whole thing. I observed a ninth or tenth grage ESL class, and they were reading Of Mice and Men. I also student taught a senior class for the last semester. I was surprised and delighted at the book the teacher had selected: A Clockwork Orange. Of course that was a movie I could not show much of to the class.

I ended up teaching 7th grade.There was no strict curriculum as to what books we were to read, although most of the 7th grade English teachers read roughly the same books. I assumed that whatever was available in the book room was okay. I ended up with some advanced classes, and I pushed all my classes and we covered a lot, To tell you the truth, literature was my least favorite thing to teach. I obviously focused on grammar and vocabulary.

What was available in the book room were good books, but still the old dystopic books that had already been used by 15 or so years. But the books were for the most part enjoyable. I think I started with The Outsiders, which the students really enjoyed. Then I did what no other 7th grade teacher did: I read Skakespeare’s Julius Caesar. It was a shortnened version with the original language. We used to act it out, complete with plastic swords and armor. The students enjoyed that. I also assigned two or three independent reading projects where the students could read whatever they wanted . Sometimes I would give guidelines, such as it had to be a biography. But I never cared if the book was banned!!!! I closed the year with the creme de la creme: I gave the students a choice. I had Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies, and The Giver. All great books. For the advanced classes, I gave another choice: 1984. They did this reading in groups depending on  which book they choose. Many of them chose 1984 which I told them would be the most challenging.

Well, of course, in came the large, tall parent who was a pastor, complaining about 1984. I had a tall, large teacher with me to defend me. I had already been through a traumatic parent interaction once before.

This pastor had never read the book except he knew there was a short passage about a prostitute that I don’t think many of the students paid much attention to. These were pretty saavy students. And they understood the book, and they really liked it. So I had to rearrange the whole class and make an excuse so this boy wouldn’t be embarrassed. He missed a good book.

Some other books used in the junior high were Holes for 7th grade, which I didn’t use,  and The Thngs They Carried, used in 8th grade. 

I wonder if the books have been updated since I left in 2015!

A Little Bit of This….

Image by Tung Lam from Pixabay

This blog has been going for what? Eleven or twelve years, I think. Every week. Oh, well, sometimes I run an old post, but I have written well over 500 posts, I would suspect. 

So I am pretty much out of ideas as far as grammar goes. I have covered everything at least once in my posts, maybe except for some esoteric grammar issues that even I don’t know about. I have been thinking for a while of what to do. Should I do a monthly post? Should I do more of a monthly newsletter with some links and a variety of things? Should I expand to include other topics? Should I have more guest posts? Should I just bag it? It has become stressful for me to think of topics. So here is my current thinking. 

If you would like to write a guest article (about anything you think would interest readers – as long as I approve it – whatever is on your mind or in your realm of interest), please let me know. They are always welcome. Put your idea in the comments, or better yet, email me through the website inquiry or at bigwords101@yahoo.com. If you have ideas for posts I could write — about grammar, words, language, or anything else, please let me know!I will expand my topics to include, well, whatever I want to write about. In the past whenever I have put anything controversial in a post (mainly a political thought), a few people would tell me to “stick to grammar.” My response is,”It’s my blog.” I am interested in grammar and words and books — and also coffee and music and politics and manifesting and songwriting. 

This week, I am still not myself. Most of you are likely in the United States, but I know some of you are abroad. I am horrified at what my country is doing and headed for. I volunteer for Democrats and belong to some Democratic organizations. It has been very difficult for my friends and me to deal with this. It is embarrassing. I don’t feel ready to do a strictly political post at this time, and maybe I never will. Right after the election, I said I was done with politics, and the only way to deal with things was to become apolitical and let the younger generation take over the fight because I am tired. However, I realized I still had strong opinions and ideas, and I post them on social media. I have stopped watching most mainstream media though. They are normalizing a ridiculous situation still.

So, that is my post. I needed to get it done because I need a new computer very badly (I am working on an early 2015 MacAir), and I may be without one for a day or two as I switch all my stuff over.  If you disagree with my opinions, that is fine, but I needed to say, at least briefly, how I felt. 

And the blog will continue….

Some New Reading Recommendations

Image by Alexander Lesnitsky from Pixabay

Here are some of the novels I have read in the past couple of months. Many of them might appeal more to women, but anyone might enjoy them. I didn’t like any one of them enough to rate it  5 stars on Goodreads, but I did have some 4 stars.

I’m Fine Neither Are You  by Camille Pagan (****)  – Friends, jobs, marriage, loss, and wanting to be able to do it all in this novel about a married couple and a good friend.

The Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu (****) – A death at a school and a good look into the lives of teachers and administrators and what they face.  Great if you have been a teacher like me. 

Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors (****) –  Three estranged sisters return to their family home after the death of the fourth sister. We see each sister’s own addictions and griefs. 

The Townsend Family Recipe for Disaster by Shauna Robinson (***) A black woman married to a white man has dreams of connecting with her family, whom she thinks don’t accept her. She travels to her Southern home longing to find family that looks like her. Her efforts to be accepted by the family bring out some family secrets including a special recipe of her grandmother’s.  I thought the behavior of the main character was a little unrealistic and off the charts.

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani (****) – A friend of mine has read it twice and said it was her favorite book, so she lent it to me. It sat on my bookshelf for a while while I finished up some books I had out of the library. I did enjoy the book. It takes place in two Italian villages and then in New York City.  Two teens who grow up in nearby Italian villages fall in love and later run into each other in  New York, where they are driven for different reasons. It is a historical novel.

Everything’s Fine by Cecelia Rabess (***) – A couple meets in college: She is often the only black girl in class, and he is an entitled rich kid. They end up working together years later as their bickering blooms into romance. 

The Briar Club by Kate Quinn (****)  – Who doesn’t love Kate Quinn? This is a really fascinating story of the women who live in a Washington, DC, boarding house in the 1950s.  Friendships, secrets, and an act of violence.

Listen for the Lie  by Amy Tintera (****) – When her friend is murdered, a woman is not sure if she might have done it, and she vows to find out who did — even if it was her. 

What’s New in Grammar? 2024 Edition

Image by Alison from Pixabay

So, what is new in grammar in 2024? Ah, same as was new in 2023 and likely in 2022. People say that grammar evolves, but it doesn’t evolve much, and it doesn’t evolve very quickly. All the grammar topics that are discussed in this blog post have been covered in previous posts, since this blog has been going for about 13 or so years, every week.

If you want to read about any of the grammar topics mentioned in this post, you can go to the home page; in the upper righthand corner is a little search icon. Click it and you can search the site. You will find blog posts that are relevant to that grammar topic. And there are often more than one. 

The same “changes” that are supposedly current have been around for a while:

You can end a sentence with a preposition.  “Whom are you going with?” Much simpler than “With whom are you going?”You can start a sentence with a conjunction if it makes sense. Not so much recommended for formal, academic writing. “And to sum up, these are the three reasons I believe this will work.”Apparently the distinction between who and whom is still around. I read several years ago that by 2025 that distinction would be history. Well, we do have another two months!The singular they is fine to use and more inclusive and less awkward than he or she. “Each student should pick up their ticket for the dance today.”The split infinitive is acceptable. But then some say it isn’t. I thought that debate was over, and it is acceptable. “… to boldly go where no man has gone.” versus “…to go boldly where no man has gone.” 

Even when I was teacher (I left in 2015), there were two schools of thought on how to teach grammar. Many believe in teaching grammar in the context of the writing and literature the students were doing and reading. I never liked that method. I always thought those who taught that way didn’t like grammar and didn’t know the rules — or care about them. That is called deductive teaching. Teaching grammar as its own subject is inductive teaching. 

Did you know that there are apparently 12 rules of grammar? I didn’t. I have many more rules than that in my books! If you do a search for grammar rules, you will also see that there are 5 or 10 grammar rules. I looked at a couple of lists of the 12 (magic?) grammar rules, and although they are similar, they are not identical. 

Here is one list of the 12 grammar rules:

Subjects and verbs in a sentence must agree.Tenses should be used in a consistent manner.Correct articles should be used (a, an, the).Complete sentences should be used.Correct capitalization should be used.Correct pronouns should be used.Correct prepositions should be used (at, in, by, etc.)Conjunctions should be used for linking words, phrases, etc.Commas should be used for clarity.Apostrophes should be used only for possessives and contractions.Word order should be switched for questions (DUH).Use clear commands (imperatives). Another DUH.

Here is the other list I found:

Sentences must have a noun and a verb. (Not even true. What about a pronoun? )Sentences must have a subject and a predicate.Sentences must have punctuation at the end.Use articles, and use them correctly.Use capital letters correctly.Use adverbs and adjectives correctly.Use tenses correctly.Ue quantitatives correctly: fewer/less and number/amountUse active voice.Use correct prepositions.Use apostrophes for possessives.Use correct conjunctions.

What did you notice about these lists? To me, they seems like lists for grammatically correct writing. Most of them really aren’t rules. How to use capitals correctly: those are rules. Anyway, I assume that is what the “powers that be” think is most important in the basics of writing decently, and I guess for the most part, they are correct. 

If you want the nitty gritty of the actual rules of any of the topics, as I said, just search my blog posts on the home page. (Oh, or buy one of my grammar books – shameless plug).

Til next week….

BOO! Halloween Trivia and More

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from PixabayBest of the Grammar Diva

 

DID YOU KNOW?

The pumpkin is a fruit because it has seeds, and it is in the same family as the cucumber.

Illinois produces 40% of the nation’s pumpkins.

The average household gives two pieces of candy to each trick or treater. 

Dracula means Son of the Devil.

Jack O’Lanterns were originally made of turnips.

Transylvania is in Romania

Nineteen people were hanged during the Salem witch trials.

$300 million is spent on pet costumes for Halloween annually.

Halloween is the second largest consumer holiday. Of course, Christmas is the first.

Halloween originated in Ireland.

It is said that people born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits.

Pumpkins originated in Central America.

People in New England call the night before Halloween Cabbage Night. 

Lewisburg, Ohio, is home to the world’s longest haunted house.

And….Psycho was the first movie to show a toilet onscreen  – in 1960. So now you know!

 

Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween.

Ailurophobia is the fear of cats.

Chiroptophobia is the fear of bats.

Hadephobia is the fear of hell.

Hemophobia is the fear of blood.

Herpetophobia is the fear of creepy crawly things.

Myctophobia is the fear of darkness.

Necrophobia is the fear of dead things.

Nyctohylophobia is the fear of dark wooded areas or forests at night.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th.

Phasmophobia is the fear of ghosts.

Placophobia is the fear of tombstones.

Pneumatiphobia is the fear of spirits.

Wiccaphobia is the fear of witches. 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

 

Getting Through Milton

Image by Taras Yasinski from Pixabay

On Tuesday, October 8, I wrote my previous post; I was waiting for Hurricane Milton.

Today is Thursday, October 17, and I made it through Milton.

I apologize if I am repeating information from my most recent post. 

I live in Wimauma, Florida, about 25 miles south of Tampa. I am not on the coast, although I live pretty close to areas that are in flood zones and must evacuate. I am also above sea level. We are in evacuation zone Z, which isn’t an evacuation zone. When I say “we,” I am referring to my daughter, son-on-law, and granddaughter. They live three miles north in the next town off the same road. 

The forecasts were dire. Tampa was to be a direct hit and Tampa Bay to suffer a huge storm surge. (Wow, the power just went out for half a minute!!!) I don’t know what type or windows I have, and I don’t have hurricane windows. I looked on the website for my community, and it said that if you had hurricane shutters in your  garage when you moved in, you probably need them. I had none. Not that that necessarily means anything. I read that my house (concrete block) was built to withstand Category 3 hurricanes. Milton was a Category 5 and predicted to hit landfall as maybe as high as a 4. It wobbled around a bit as hurricanes do, and it was difficult to predict exactly where it would hit.

My location has lucked out a few times since I have lived in Florida. This time we were not so sure. Then, last minute the storm took a very unexpected 90-degree turn. It hit beautiful Siesta Key at landfall but missed us. That is not to say we didn’t have a very powerful, scary storm. It was a Category 3.

I was afraid to stay at home alone for this one, so around noon on Wednesday, my car safely in my garage along with my daughter’s van, she picked me up and I went to her house. The storm was predicted for late Wednesday night, early Thursday morning. 

It arrived a little earlier than expected and seemed to be over around 10 p.m. Wednesday. But I woke up around 1 p.m. to howling winds and no power. By 4 a.m. it was pretty much over. 

I knew there was no power at my house either — or most places in the area. My son-in-law was very prepared: hurricane shutters, bright rechargeable flashlights, power banks, fast chargers, several water jugs, bathtubs filled with water. We charged everything to 100 percent. I did have a battery-powered radio I brought, which turned out to be very helpful. That is something my generation is familiar with, but not theirs!

My son-in-law’s aunt and uncle live an hour north of us. They got the storm, but they never lost power. On Friday we drove up there and charged all our electronics again. 

I wondered how my house fared.  My daughter and son-in-law had helped me prepare it. Instead of sandbags, they said I could use bags of mulch. I worried about flooding mostly because of something going on between my roof and gutter. The water pours through when it rains, and it starts to gather in my front lanai, so I was afraid I might get water in my house. So they put plastic and ten bags of mulch total outside of my back slider and my front door, which is also glass. 

I put tape in an X on my slider and front door (which I heard does nothing, but it made me feel better). So I was ready. I hoped.

On Friday night at about 11:12 the power came on at my daughter’s house. I was sleeping and suddenly all the lights in the room went on (since they had all been on when the power went out). I wondered if the power at my house was on. I couldn’t find out until their power went on because messages were not coming through my cell phone. And the power company was too busy to update their website anyway. When the power came on I walked into the living room. My daughter was in there; she wanted to make sure all the lights hadn’t gone on suddenly in the baby’s room. We could hear shouts of joy outside from the neighborhood.  I later found out that my power had gone on a few hours before theirs did.

My daughter and son-in-law had no damage except for a few minor issues with their fence. 

I went home on Saturday morning. My house was fine. No leaks, no trees down and no windows harmed. No floods. Nothing except part of a decorative roof tile down.  The neighborhood was in good shape. Of course there were branches down and some trees leaning. I am very glad I had my huge oak tree that was planted much too close to my house taken down a year or two ago.

I don’t suspect there were may generators going in my 55+ neighborhood, but there were quite a few in my daughter’s neighborhood.  I am not a fan. They are noisy, especially when you are trying to sleep, and they take gas, which was already in very short supply with people trying to evacuate to somewhere. I can see you would need one for medical devices or if you have an infant, but if you just have to go without power for a day or two???? How weak and dependent have we become?

The last issue was gas. I was concerned because I had only 55 miles left in my tank and tickets to an event in Tampa a few days later. I couldn’t go unless I got gas. Someone in my daughter’s neighborhood waited three hours for gas on Friday or Saturday. I thought I would give it a try on Sunday. I was lucky and waited in line only 20 or 30 minutes at Walmart.   The Tampa event was postponed because of the storm anyway. Some people are still without power or just got it back a day or two ago. I did feel safer with a full tank, however.

I have bought two good flashlights, a five-gallon water jug, a power bank, and a super fast phone charger.  I am ready for whatever comes my way.

 

Waiting for Milton

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

It is Tuesday afternoon, October 8, and I have “evacuated” from my house in southern Hillsborough County, Florida, three miles down the road to my daughter’s house. Neither of us is in a flood zone or an evacuation zone. However, this Hurricane Milton is supposed to be so bad that even people in other areas are evacuating, since we expect a direct hit from the huge storm. For those unfamiliar with Florida, we are in the Tampa Bay area. 

I live in a villa, concrete block, so it is safe and built to withstand a Category 3 hurricane. But when I moved in there were no hurricane shutters, and never having lived in Florida before, who knew? And although we have had a few hurricanes, I never sustained any damage at all. This time things are a little scarier. 

The storm is supposed to hit tomorrow night and last to sometime Thursday morning. For this one, I didn’t want to ride it out alone (without hurricane shutters — and who knows the condition of my tile roof). My villa was built in 2009; my daughter and son-in-law’s house is newer — 2018 — and came with the shutters.

Funny (?) story: The first time a hurricane hit this new neighborhood that my daughter lives in, everyone was trying to figure out how to install the hurricane shutters. They discovered that the shutters didn’t fit their windows. Somehow they discovered that they each had shutters that belonged to someone else’s house. They eventually got it all sorted out, and they helped each other get the shutters up. Many of the people, like my daughter and son-in-law, were new to Florida. Of course, the storm fizzled, and no shutters were needed that time. 

I looked around my community a bit yesterday and today. Hardly anyone has shutters up. It is a 55+ community, so people might be seeking someone to put the shutters up. But everything looked pretty normal. People were walking their dogs — and I was running around trying to pack and prep my house before I left.

By the time you read this post, the damage will probably already have been done. (I am hoping for the best….)

I thought you might be interested in some hurricane terminology, since this is a “word-ish” blog!

Hurricane: The term comes from the Taíno word hurucane, which means “evil spirit of the wind.”Spanish explorers brought the word to Europe, where it became common in English.

Tropical cyclone: A generic term used in the Indian Ocean and Coral Sea to describe storms that are called hurricanes or typhoons in other areas.

Typhoon: The term used in the Western Pacific for tropical cyclones.

Medicanes: An informal term for storms that form over the Mediterranean Sea and have characteristics similar to hurricanes.

Storm eye: The center of a hurricane, where conditions are calmer and winds are light.

Eye wall: The band of storms that surrounds the eye, where the most severe weather occurs.

Rain bands: Bands that extend from the cyclone and can produce heavy rain, wind, and tornadoes.

Tropical depression: A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of less than 39 mph.

Tropical storm: A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 39–78 mph.

Category: A rating for the damage potential of a hurricane, with Category 1 having the lowest potential and Category 5 having the highest.

Atmospheric Pressure: The pressure exerted by the atmosphere at a given point. Its measurement can be expressed in several ways, including millibars and inches of mercury (Hg). Average sea level pressure is 1013.25 millibars or 29.92 inches of mercury. A drop in atmospheric pressure usually indicates the approach of a storm, such as a hurricane.

Beaufort Wind Scale: A system for estimating and reporting wind speeds. It is based on the visible effects of wind upon land objects (such as vegetation) and/or sea surface conditions such as white caps and foam. The scale was devised by Sir Francis Beaufort (1777-1857), hydrographer to the British Royal Navy.

Convection: Hurricanes develop over warm tropical oceans where the sea surface temperature is ~26.5 C (80 F) or warmer. In weather processes, there is circulation of fluid (air) that serves to equalize temperatures. An example is air flow between ocean and land during day and during night. Hurricanes use warm ocean waters for convection, often allowing for an increase in strength. Warmer water allows for an increase in storm strength.

Data Buoys: Instrumented buoys placed throughout United States coastal and ocean waters that collect and relay data or information on air and water temperature, wind speed, air pressure, and wave conditions through several media. For hurricanes, these buoys are used to gather information to help predict hurricane strengthening or weakening and direction of movement.

Dropsonde: A weather reconnaissance device designed to be dropped from an airplane. The dropsonde includes meteorological instruments attached to a parachute. A vertical profile of the atmosphere is returned to meteorologist’s computers as the dropsonde collects the data as it descends from the airplane to the ocean surface. Dropsondes are used by the Hurricane Hunter aircrafts to obtain the minimum central pressure in the eye of the hurricane, and conditions throughout the storm.

Fetch: The area over which the wind blows steadily. The greater the fetch, the greater the wave height. In a hurricane, fetch, wind speed, and wind direction associated with the storm will determine the storm surge as the storm moves landward.

Forward velocity: The speed at which a hurricane moves along its path. Slow-moving hurricanes (those with a low forward velocity) provide more opportunity for people to prepare.

Gale: On the Beaufort Wind Scale, defined as winds with speeds from 28 to 55 knots (32 to 63 miles per hour). “Gale force winds” are often associated with the outer portion hurricanes.

Gulf Stream: The warm, swift, relatively narrow ocean current that flows from south to north off the southeast Atlantic coast of the United States. The warm waters of the Gulf Stream often feed hurricanes by providing warm water that might be patchy elsewhere.

Gust: A sudden significant increase in or rapid fluctuations of wind speed. Peak wind speed must reach at least 16 knots (18 miles per hour); the duration is usually less than twenty seconds. Hurricane gusts have speeds 10mph or greater faster than a hurricane’s sustained wind speed.

Hurricane Warning : A formal advisory issued by forecasters at the National Hurricane Center when they have determined that hurricane conditions are expected in a coastal area or group of islands within a 24 hour period. A warning is used to inform the public and marine interests of the storm’s location, intensity, and movement.

Hurricane Watch: A formal advisory issued by forecasters at the National Hurricane Center when they have determined that hurricane conditions are a potential threat to a coastal area or group of islands within a 24 to 36 hour period. A watch is used to inform the public and marine interests of the storm’s location, intensity, and movement.

Low Latitudes: Latitudes between 30 and 0 degrees North and South of the equator. Also referred to as the tropical or torrid region. Most hurricanes develop at low latitudes (where waters are warmest).

Low Pressure System: An area of a relative pressure minimum that has converging winds and rotates in the same direction as the earth. This is counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Also known as a cyclone, it is the opposite of an area of high pressure (anticyclone).

Maximum sustained winds: This describes the hurricanes’ steady winds. Unlike hurricane gusts, maximum sustained winds must last over twenty seconds continuously. This determines the category of the hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale.

Saffir-Simpson Scale: This scale classifies hurricanes based on their intensity, and is used to predict how damaging the hurricane will be to property. Saffir-Simpson classifies hurricanes from a scale of 1 (minimal) to 5 (catastrophic.)

Category Central Pressure Winds Surge
1 — Minimal Greater than 980 mb or 28.94 in 74 to 95 mph or 64 to 83 kts 4 to 5 feet
2 — Moderate 965 to 979 mb or 28.50 to 28.91 in 96 to 110 mph or 65 to 96 kts 6 to 8 feet
3 — Extensive 945 to 964 mb or 27.91 to 28.47 in 111 to 130 mph or 97 to 113 kts 9 to 12 feet
4 — Extreme 920 to 944 mb or 27.17 to 27.88 in 131 to 155 mph or 114 to 135 kts 13 to 18 feet
5 — Catastrophic less than 920 mb or 27.17 in greater than 155 mph or 135 kts greater than 18 feet

Storm surge: The increase in sea water height from the level that would occur under calm conditions. It is estimated by subtracting the normal tide from the recorded water level of the storm. Although the largest storm surges are associated with hurricanes, smaller low pressure systems and winds associated with fronts can cause an increase in the sea level if wind and fetch are cooperating. It is estimated by subtracting the normal astronomic tide from the observed storm tide. Learn more about storm surge in this NOAA National Hurricane Center “Introduction to Storm Surge” education resource.

Subtropical: The region between the tropical and temperate regions, an area between 35° and 40° North and South latitudes. This is generally an area of semi-permanent high pressure.

Subtropical waters: Also known as the semi-tropics, subtropical waters are in the region between the tropics (23.5 degrees north and south of the equator) and approximately 35 degrees latitude.

Swell: Ocean waves that have traveled out of the area where they were generated. Swell characteristically exhibits a more regular and longer period and has flatter wave crests than waves within their fetch. The swell generated by hurricanes that are offshore can cause big waves at the coast and set up dangerous rip currents.

Wind Direction: The direction from which the wind is blowing. For example, an easterly wind blows from the east, not toward the east. It is reported with reference to true north, or 360 degrees on the compass, and expressed to the nearest 10 degrees, or to one of the 16 points of the compass (N, NE, WNW, etc.).

Wind Shear: The rate of change of wind speed or direction with distance. Vertical wind shear is rate of change of the wind with respect to altitude. Horizontal wind shear is the rate of change on a horizontal plane. In a hurricane, vertical wind shear can cause significant weakening of the system.

Wind Speed: The rate of the motion of the air per unit of time. It can be measured with several types of instruments such as an anemometer, and may be reported using different units including knots (nautical miles per hour), miles per hour, or meters per second.

So now you know…..

Thank you Secoora website for some of the terminology.