Ray, meet Dean

I bid Ray farewell here in Tennessee on Saturday, and Robert welcomed him to Key West Sunday night.

(Robert flew back here on Tuesday!)

Ray is on Southernmost watch for a few weeks --with one side project. He took our big cast-iron rooster down for our front porch, after having welded a bolt-down plate on him so he won't "wander." Robert says it looks wonderful, and I'll post pictures when I can.

Just in case, I also gave Ray a hurricane re-entry pass, which lets you back on the island after a storm.

Of course, there hasn't been a storm yet this year . . . until this morning, when Dean popped up on the radar.

If the forecast track holds (an awfully dicey proposition this early in the game), the bad news is that it will be a Cat 3 by Monday. The good news is that it's likely to bounce against that great track-buffer to the South, Cuba.

In any case, Ray has that pass.