Saturday, August 27, 2011

Goodnight Irene, Goodnight

At chez Grapeshot, hurricane preparations underway.   This mostly involves taking everything off the deck, the porch and out of the yard that could become a missile.  Stowing away plenty of ice and water.

We had food in the house but I decided not to bake focaccia today--too much to do, so I popped into the store early this a.m.  More folks that usual, some with carts really piled high.  Everyone but me buying potato chips.  What is that about?   However the young guy behind me in the checkout line had lots of water and three loaves of bread, so he'll be ready.   

On the way to the store I noticed that most houses had not taken down the hanging baskets of decks and porches.  Hmmm.  Maybe later today.  We did a flashlight drill and discovered two without batteries.  We have 7 flash lights (I took some out of the car) two battery lanterns and one kerosene lanterns, plus a lot of candles.  Everything ready to go.

I'm making an orzo salad and some chicken pesto.  Stuff that doesn't require heating, although our gas stove will work if one lights a match to the pilot lights.  A gas stove is a huge plus, unless, of course, a gas main ruptures.  Last hurricane when we lived in Wellesley, the electricity was off for four days and we   used a camp stove and the charcoal grill to cook stuff as the freezer defrosted.  Definitely some bizarre meals.

Charging my Kindle.  Doing the laundry because we are sure to lose electricity, always a bummer in the evening.  I suppose I could write with pen and paper.  Now there's a thought.

The air is so still and sultry.  Not a leave stirring.  The calm before the storm.  Woodpeckers feeding like crazy.  Do they know?  I put out fresh nectar for the hummers yesterday.  They had eaten the feeder almost dry.

Sky full of confused gray clouds.  All different kinds in layers.  I need to observe to make sure I have my storm in the Florida Straits right.  And for something related to my latest novel, see the next post.  It was really eerie.

So battening down the hatches with a sense of purpose and determination.  We had a good little neighborhood where people will help each other.  Onward,

Grapeshot

3 comments:

  1. Love your blog--where in New England are you? I'm still wondering about the potato chips--the bread and water I get! Having no culinary skills whatsoever, I'm going to have to look up "orzo salad." Stay safe and I'll be back for more visits!

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  2. Found you from linked in. Thanks for this post. Are you in Boston? I'm in the metro area of DC. We're getting rain and wind as I write this. Am not nearly as prepared as you but I don't think it'll be as necessary here. Just have one flashlight and a bunch of candles. If elec goes out before bedtime we'll have nothing to do. So I hope for the best. gotta go cook dinner now while we still have it.

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  3. We are just south of Boston. Rain this afternoon. The Red Sox are trying to get a double header in. Good luck with that!

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