LANE: Tropical Storm Humberto turns out to be just a drill

Because I have a fundamentally optimistic temperament, I took down my house plywood pretty quickly after Hurricane Dorian passed. And I did not get nervous and throw it all back up again as soon as I saw Potential Tropical Cyclone 9 heading straight toward me.

Yes, me personally. I take weather maps that way.

[READ MORE: Volusia, Flagler counties no longer under tropical storm watch]

Fortunately, by Friday afternoon, the storm's path had shifted out to sea. At that point, it still lacked so much as a proper name. Forecasters said the storm remained disorganized but still had potential. Which, as it happens, was what teachers used to say about me all the time.

Bottom line: The plywood stayed stored against the wall in the garage. You can't write "Potential Tropical Cyclone 9" on window plywood and expect to be taken seriously as a hurricane veteran.

By the time the storm intensified and got a real name, Tropical Storm Humberto, there were still no lines at the stores and gas stations. No empty shelves in the bottled water aisles. Everything was moving farther out to sea.

The wind started picking up Friday afternoon but in a breezy, blustery-day-at-the-beach way. Nothing ominous. On the weekend, we got gusts of blow-your-hat-off wind, not a blow-your-roof-off wind. The kind of wind that messes with your hair, not your electrical power. Look, hair by Humberto!

Just the way you'd want a well-behaved tropical storm to be. A relief to devoted followers of storm tracking maps.

Keep up with developments in the storm with us and othershttps://www.facebook.com/groups/1123881644483613" target="_blank"> in the STORMWATCH: Volusia-Flagler counties Facebook group.

Light blows like this one are good to have. They're nature's fire drills, realistic storm-simulation exercises. Interruptions in your routine that remind you that there are distinct hazards involved with living in Florida, so best to be ready for them. A training storm.

And even the lightest training storm is not without some meteorological drama -- a few alarming gusts, and branches to pick up. But unless a freak blow brings down a tree or lightning blows up a neighborhood transformer, it is distant danger safely appreciated. A good excuse to stay inside and dormant for a weekend.

Training storms remind us that we actually weren't misguided to stock up on all that junk food and water bottles during the previous for-real hurricane. We should have it on hand and in the pantry until the end of November. Rule of thumb: Don't store away the box of hurricane supplies until you take out the box of Christmas decorations.

Training storms are like good summer-movie thrillers; they simulate danger, make you appreciate the fragility of your present well-being, and provide a little emotional release when everything resolves. It all blows past you and everything is just the same. Missed us again.

And training storms warn you that there is no quota on a hurricane season. Getting one doesn't mean there can't be more. Could be close together or far apart. Having one swing near you is no guarantee that the next has to someone else's turn. No guarantee that the next might come twirling down the same path as before -- as Humberto is doing. No way to tell.

Not everyone is nervous enough to appreciate the close call of a training storm. Not everyone looks at the hurricane maps for half the year. Their loss.

For me, this is a weekend to be thankful for blustery days and stray bands of rains. Just enough to catch my attention and not foul weather at all.

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