"Telephone Road" by Rodney Crowell (2001)

This video is from Rodney Crowell's 2001 release of the "Houston Kid" album, which would turn out to be the beginning of a trilogy for Mr. Crowell. "Houston Kid" was followed with "Fate's Right Hand" in 2003, and then with the sensational album "The Outsiders", in 2005. This video starts off with a very young Dan Rather doing the weather report out of Houston during a hurricane in the late 50's, or early 60's.

The whole video is a veritable snapshot of life from when Mr. Crowell was a kid. Interspersed, as it is, with footage of his band recording, and performing, lends an urgency to the song, almost as if the artist wants you to step inside his head and share with you all of the things he has seen while growing up.

All three of the aforementioned albums were eventually distilled into Rodney Crowell's landmark autobiography, "Chinaberry Sidewalks", which was released in 2010. If you haven't read it, you are missing out on a real treat. And, if you have never been to one of Mr. Crowell's concerts, you are doubly deprived.

Hurricane Irene and Hurricane Donna

Can you believe that my old neighborhood of Kings Highway/Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn is in Zone A of Hurricane Irene? I hope everyone there is safe and dry. This is what it looked like in 1960, though officially the hurricane had been downgraded prior to hitting the city. Here's a link to the weather in the old neighborhood- Zip Code 11229, if case you no longer live there.

http://www.weatherstreet.com/local_forecast_files/Brooklyn-NY-11229.htm

The first hurricane I remember in Brooklyn was in 1960 and was called Hurricane Donna. It rained and howled for about 12 hours, then the skies opened up blue and fresh. There might have been a rainbow - but I'm not sure. Then it got dark again as the second half passed over. The funny thing is that Hurricane Donna formed on August 28th, 1960 and hit the east coast of the US at the tip of the Florida Keys, turning Northward on just about the exact path of this Hurricane Irene. Although it was a hurricane when it made landfall, by the time it hit New Jersey it was really just a tropical storm. But it was my first awarenwss of a hurricane at all, and so to me will always count as the first for me.

This is the boardwalk in Coney Island at 10 AM this morning - waiting for the rain...