With the months of August and September marking the height of (the Atlantic Coast) Hurricane Season, I have to stay alert - being a Florida resident, and all - and keep tabs on upcoming weather conditions...

2005 was the worst year for the 'Sunshine State' as three named storms - Katrina, Rita and Wilma - made landfall here. (In fact, a record twenty-eight tropical and subtropical storms were formed between June 1st and December 31st - one month after said season was supposed to have ended. Because the list of name storms for that year was exhausted, the remaining storms were named after letters of the Greek alphabet!)

During 2005, I was a toll collector on the Sawgrass Expressway in Broward County. During lulls between cars (sometimes lasting five minutes or more), I would either doodle or draw and ink 'fat furry' images based on current subject matter. With one week to go before Hurricane Season began, I'd whipped out a gag about a pair of portly animals who offered their services during one such emergency - little realizing how this duet was going to be 'used'...