Adapted from Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

The news-media hype last week about Hurricane Lee mostly reflects their craving for clicks/ratings from the drama associated with (mostly free) video. And I suspect  that most people enjoy the excitement of a storm even if they’re in it, unless, of course, there’s some personal insult/expense, such as a tree falling on their house.

There was a minor hurricane called Belle back in 1976 that weakened and moved west of Rhode Island during our first residency in Providence. When it became clear that it wouldn’t amount to much, our next-door neighbor, the late great Luigi Bianco, whined in frustration: “But I want drama!”

Back in the ‘50’s, at our house on Massachusetts Bay, several hurricanes kept us well supplied with firewood from fallen trees and branches well into the ‘60s; we started  to miss those storms when we ran low of firewood during the ‘60s tropical- storm shortage. The firewood was mostly for decorative fires during the holidays and to pop popcorn (to be soaked in butter and salt – no wonder we all got heart disease) -- and roast chestnuts. I still link the fires with watching home movies taken on a wind-up  8mm camera.