The picture taking up much of today’s front page features a white whirling dervish of a storm swirling toward a slender green peninsula. From this vantage point, Florida seems nothing more than a vulnerable appendage, a state that should be retractable, though what it would retract into I am not sure. Georgia, perhaps?

My recent trips to Florida have made me fond of the place. It’s a beach lover’s paradise, and its tropical air and foliage set it apart from the rest. It’s another world for me, and it’s threatened like it hasn’t been in decades.

The picture leaves little to the imagination. It’s hard to see how Irma could do anything but clobber the state. All we can hope for now is that there be as little loss of life (none, please!) and property as possible. Now we’re all feeling for Florida.