Sunny Florida

Let me preface this by saying that Floridians don't even get out of bed for anything less than a category 2 hurricane, so a tropical storm is nothing more than "lots of rain." And we know how to deal with rain down here.

That said, Tropical Storm Colin is pushing some serious clouds ahead of it. I don't know if it grabbed a pre-existing storm front or what, but I can't recall the last time we got hit with tropical storm-style weather while the actual storm was still in the Gulf.

How serious? Would you believe a cloud system larger than my entire state?

Image courtesy of Stormpulse, my hurricane tracker of choice.

I'm not at all worried, but daaaaayum, that's impressive.

Speaking of impressively huge, here's a video of an estimated 15 foot long, 700+ pound alligator sauntering (if you were that swole, you'd swagger too) across a Florida golf course.


And this is why, in general, Floridians are not impressed with other states: we live in friggin' Jurassic Park and the weather is actively trying to kill us. The only thing that frightens us is snow, because our gills are vulnerable to frostbite.

UDPATE: right as I posted my article on Facebook, I noticed this photo:

This determined alligator was spotted Monday at 9:20 a.m. in bushes near the intersection of Cypress Point Parkway and Cypress Edge Drive in Palm Coast.

In this photo shot by Mark Olson, a Citizens Observer Program member of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, FCSO Corporal Kenny Goncalves, left, said the gator was more than 5 feet long. It was sitting by the crosswalk and suddenly scampered across the entire roadway in the crosswalk. Goncalves and Deputy Jonathon Duenas stopped traffic to allow the critter to cross, which took about 30 seconds.

A trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called but before he could arrive on scene, the gator went to a wooded lot and back to its natural habitat. The trapper call was canceled.

"He just walked in the crosswalk like it was normal,'' Goncalves said.

That's right next to my local Walmart. I wouldn't call it particularly rural, either.