Page 148 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

Most of the months were very dry. Virginia was upset that I had to drive to the garden
almost daily, as well as weekends, to tend the plants. The water faucet was 40 feet from
the garden; therefore, I either had to carry a dozen or more buckets of water to the
plants or unwind a 100 ft. garden hose from the faucet to the garden. One summer day,
the temperatures approached the middle and upper 90’s. The heat tired me so much that
I had to lie on the sidewalk where there was shade under the oak tree to cool down. On
September 29, 2010, I was so fatigued that I tripped on the rolled up hose that was
stored between the two bushes and landed on my left hip. Upon going into the station, I
was told they wanted me on the air at 6 PM because of a weak tropical storm, Nicole,
near the northern coast of Cuba. I told them that we had no reason to be concerned with
it and that it would pass east of Miami. When they learned of my fall, they sent me to
Solantic for an X-ray. Fortunately, it was only a bruise.

Upon watching the 5 PM News, I was shocked to hear Tom Wills say that Nicole
would impact our area. I fired an e-mail to the station telling them the only rain that we
were getting was from a stationary front over north Florida and that the heaviest rain
from Nicole was southeast of Nicole over Jamaica. The next day, I was told that I
would no longer have to come in to maintain the garden.

The task of constructing George’s Blog as Hurricane Expert was a real challenge. I had
to learn how to assemble the weather descriptions over satellite images, or tabulate
weather data and insert them into WordPress. It disturbed Virginia that I had to spend
many uninterrupted hours at the computer, analyzing weather data, answering e-mails,
and assembling the Blog. In addition, my beagle, Callie, missed my attention and often
begged me to take her for a walk.

After 47 years of being Chief Meteorologist, I was aware of many significant changes
taking place at Channel 4. I had seen hundreds, maybe a thousand or more, fellow
employees leave WJXT. Some moved on to other stations, and even to the networks.
Several were employed by local hospitals or businesses. I had been providing Collard
greens from George’s Garden to Joyce Morgan-Danford and her family until she left to
become a spokesperson for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority. I rejoiced with
Nancy Rubin when she had a baby, Leah, around the same time that my daughter,
Wendy, presented me with a granddaughter, Amanda. I enjoyed seeing her as
Communications Director on the television weekly program JAXPORT Review.

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