Instead of the laden refrigerator I showed while waiting for Irene, the weekend visitor from Hell — here are blue skies on Sunday afternoon. The winds are still high — you can tell from the photo — but the rain is ended, and the power is still on, and we are still here. We are very lucky, very little to complain about — aside from a boring day of waiting and eating too much (the chicken salad and egg salad are both sorely depleted). We were in a lucky place. No flooding, although there’s major flooding in our town and region and many places up and down the East coast. No major trees down right around us. We never lost power, although outages are anticipated to last for days for millions of people — No, we have a lot to be grateful for. Not least of which are the messages from three continents bearing thoughts and wishes, every one of which lifted our spirits in the darkest part of the day. For which, a HEARTFELT THANK YOU to all. And to Irene, goodbye and good riddance!
Our hatches are battened, to the extent possible. I’ve prepared power outage fare: chicken soup, chicken salad, egg salad, cheeses, Terra chips. There are blueberries, raspberries, and watermelon chunks. Frank’s Internationally Famous Tuna Salad can be prepared with the turn of a can opener. Water bottles in the fridge, lots of plastic bags filled with water lining the freezer (a wrinkle new to me this storm around). I actually charged my cell phone and it’s got a full battery (if I remember how to use it, the cell phone that is. I got it for emergencies, MY emergencies, and only know how to make a call. Oh, dinosaur!)
Lots of flashlights on hand, and it isn’t winter, if anything it’s hot and muggy. Losing power in the winter in farther Western Massachusetts was no joke, let me tell you (said she, shivering under two down comforters that time).
A few miles west of us, the eastern slopes of the Berkshires are now estimated to receive the full brunt of Irene’s rain, anywhere from 4 to 10 inches. (Rather a large anywhere, I’d say.) Which means here on the plain we’re probably going to see a whole bunch of water. Two good paperback mysteries, always Jane Austen on hand (did you know that Winston Churchill, for one, used to read Jane Austen in the bomb shelters? I can relate to that), and a big book of double crostics.
All you outside the penumbra of Hurricane Irene — as the Quakers say, please Hold us in the Light. And all who are on this ride along with us — be well, be safe, stay dry.
The sun returns on Monday and, God willing and the creek don’t rise, so will we.
Hope it passes by and leaves you, your family and your home unscathed!
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Thanks very much, Rachael.
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That’s all good. We have most of those things too, except the lining of water bags in the freezer.
Now our weather page have put up all kinds of red warnings all of a sudden so I went and checked its predicted path again at http://stormpulse.com. Right now, it looks like she’ll miss us totally — go west of us. We’re even outside of the cone..
I haven’t read a Jane Austen book for years! I have something else, easy to digest. Cellphone will be charge — communication in case of emergency is a bit of an obsession with me. That’s why I have it.
On Monday afternoon we’ll rise like a Phoenix out of Arizona, G-d willing. (c;
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Okay, we’re both set.
(I’m already madly thinking, how can I illustrate a Phoenix rising out of Arizona?????????? BIG GRIN, thanks for it, Rebekah!)
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Hi Touch2Touch,
Excellent preparation. I pray you won’t need any of it.
Peace,
ATreeGrowsinBklyn
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And you in Brooklyn — stay away from the shore!
Be safe — Judith
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The clouds are pillowing, painted in varying shades of gray. I have pots of water to use for flushing and washing, bottles filled for drinking, and candles lined up in case the power goes out. We’re under a tropical storm warning here. Be safe and be in touch on the flip side!
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Same here, tropical storm warning. Happy hunkering, Pauline —
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holding you in the light.
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Thank you, Joss. That means a lot!
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You are well prepared but I hope it doesn’t come to that.
You will all be in my thoughts and prayers. Stay safe and dry.
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Thanks very much for the wishes and prayers, Barb.
I know you in Queensland know too much about too much rain, too much water —
We’ve all got our fingers crossed!
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I’m hunkering with you, too. Although it seems to be more of a tropical storm at the moment. I think we get the brunt of it sometime during the night, unless the forecast has changed. Stay safe.
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I thought you’d be too far west to have to hunker, but this is a monster storm if there ever was one! Irene could considerately lose some weight —
You too, stay safe!
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Thank goodness you are all safe. Holding you in the light.
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Irene is just beginning to slap us with her skirts, I think the main blow will come later this afternoon–
Meanwhile your wishes mean a lot! Thank you.
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So glad you’re ok! Hopefully, aid will reach all those who need it in time. The news has been showing such sad devastation.
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It seems like the areas predicted for the worst devastation — Manhattan, Boston — got off lightly. Vermont and upstate New York almost out of the blue (dark gray) were hit with devastation of an unpredecented order. Some of the cruel ironies of Irene — which name, in Greek, means Peace! Hard to believe!
Glad you are well, happy and grateful for your stopping by the blog.
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So strange reading all these posts from our american friends over here in the UK. OUr thoughts are with you and your families.
Loved the bit about Churchill. Austen sounds about perfect for these situations.
M2Mx
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Austen’s been perfect in past ferocious storms — but it’s been a long time and I’m out of practice!
Will try her again, though, and thank you so much for your thoughts. It is much appreciated.
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Good luck, people. Stay safe.
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Thanks, John —
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Saw your link on Rural Intelligence and was happy I clicked through. Neighbor to neighbor, I hold you in the light (what a lovely expression) and feel optimistic that the sun will shine on Monday. Stay safe.
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And you as well, neighbor!
(Delighted in the linkage as I find your blog very appealing. The storm photo is awesome —)
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Wir drücken Euch die Daumen! (We keep our fingers crossed for you.) And hope to hear from you soon.
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Received at the wind’s heights —
Gratefully!
We hope for sun and leisure (to do pleasant things like e-mail!) tomorrow —
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Sounds like you’re pretty prepared!! Irene hit us last night, and the damage actually wasn’t as bad as we expected. Super windy with tornado warnings, but we didn’t even lose power! Stay safe.
Halie
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Good for you! Here significant rain has tapered off to almost nil — wind gusts high for another hour or two (or three?) but we’ve got our fingers crossed —
Your message is MUCH appreciated —
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Sounds like the storm has largely been safely ridden out from what I read in the news; hope the same is true for you.
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Thanks for the thoughts!
Yes, not so bad as anticipated for many (although not all, much flooding at coastlines, in low places, near rivers, etc.) —
We have a couple of hours more of high wind gusts here, rain has abated, and fingers crossed, power is still on —
A long day! (We haven’t even got to the chicken salad yet 🙂
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At least one ‘upside’ to a hurricane is that it doesn’t hit in winter; you are a thousand percent spot-on in that losing power in the winter is absolutely no joke…
I hope you are faring okay; I’ve been thinking about you a bit today, and wishing you (and everyone) well.
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Thanks, Stef. I really believe that well-wishing is a force which delivers. We came through luckier than most, see the update I just added, with its fleeing clouds —–
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We weren’t aware Frank was so handy in the kitchen. We knew he was talented with the PLUNGER on the coffee pot, but opening a can of TUNA. It’s a new FRANK.
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I’ll have to ask the Master Chef himself for a response —-
😉
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I am so happy that you survived a boring weekend waiting for the big, bad storm. I am truly grateful there was no damage to your property. Hurricanes, and weather predictions in general, are hit and miss. Better to be safe than sorry when you are preparing. You certainly were prepared. And now we will celebrate that you are safe! Ah, now what to do since that drama has ended? Have fun watching the clouds blow away.
Tara
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Well, there’s that! And we are VERY grateful.
Meanwhile though, Connecticut (where our son and family live, is a disaster area. They are talking about a week before power can be restored. Luckily they have a gas stove, which means some hot food, but otherwise with three kids — not fun! He didn’t mention whether school will be starting or not, I think it might have been supposed to.
And north of us, just about all of Vermont is unbelievably hit! So one person’s miss is another’s misery. Oy.
Thanks for the greetings across the continent, it is much appreciated, Tara! And heartwarming to be remembered —
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