whirlwind

there's nothing like an impending hurricane to stir up some excitement, especially in our area where we are not accustomed to storms of this magnitude. 

the last hurricane (that i remember) which touched down around here was hurricane floyd in my freshman year at college.  i don't think we expected it to hit as hard as it did.  classes went on as scheduled so my suitemates and i were still out and about when the rush of rain and subsequent flooding came.  the wind blew our umbrellas inside out, making them useless.  we sloshed through several inches of water crossing the street to the sidewalk.  it didn't help that our dorm was at the top of a long and moderate hill, so by the time we made it up we were completely soaked from head to toe.  that was nearly 12 years ago.

now, you can't turn on the news without hearing updates on irene.  channel 10 was doing live coverage from the shore points when i got up this morning and is still talking about it at this hour.  there have been mandatory evacuations, road closures, shutting down of transit lines, and red cross disaster preparations.  grocery stores have been flooded with people buying the usual: milk (why milk?), eggs, and bread (according to the comic from last night, it seems people want to be ready to make french toast during storms).  and apparently some gas stations have run out of gas.  what i want to know is where anyone would be going in the middle of a storm anyway.

so i've made my few preparations: stayed inside and decided what book i want to read.  my husband made his: brought in the grill and the non-potted plants.  we're ready.

and i'm set on staying dry this time.