Every morning, after I turn off the my singing bird alarm at 5.30, first I check my calendar, then the day’s weather forecast, then Plume the air quality app to compare Galveston’s CAQI to other large cities around the world. Then, before queuing up Monocle’s The Globalist podcast, and rising to my feet to start the day with a little aerobics at the McGuire Dent Rec Center down the street from me, I like to flip over to Galveston Island Webcams to survey wave activity. These images are screenshots from the live cams, taken the early morning after Hurricane Laura, when the community was waking up to access the damage the night before. I was in Tennessee at the time, vacationing, looking out upon the rolling green Smoky Mountains while trying to remain composure about the fact that I had no idea the state of my home. Luckily, blessedly, our street was high n dry. I love the penguin cam over at Moody Gardens.