Just to keep you all posted

As last time, we are a block and a half uphill of the mandatory evacuation zone. The zones get a little funky around our area, really - even though we touch right up against zone A, we're not in *any* zone, probably because the hill goes up so steep. We have more to worry about flooding down the hill than storm surges off the coast!

All the same, we've brought in all our outdoor things and locked up the cats. They're none too happy about this, but I was never very happy with letting them outside in the first place and for sure I don't want them out in a hurricane. It hasn't started raining at all yet, not even a little, but the wind is really picking up.

In cheerier news, the boys down the block brought over a ton of leaves. They didn't question this, even though they pretty blatantly think I have a few screws loose, and they didn't ask for payment either. (Which means they're on the shortlist of people getting candy this Halloween, assuming we *have* Halloween, a list limited to "them" and "the latecomers who otherwise won't get anything". Everybody else is getting glowsticks.) I suspect they think I don't like them all that much, but in truth I think I'm the only person on the block who doesn't automatically *dislike* them. With five or six kids very close in one age in one family it's no wonder they're a bit wild, but other than that I really don't have any real problem with their behavior. My neighbors will always bring them up as an example of "kids on this block acting up", but as near as I can tell they act pretty much how I'd expect. Maybe I just don't expect much of children? At any rate, even awful brats often grow out of it, so I don't waste time worrying about the behavior of other people's kids so long as they aren't putting their lives in peril. Back on the topic of my garden, if the wind doesn't ruin things I'll be out later this week raking people's sidewalks. Really, it's a public service!

Anyway, anyway, anyway, we are totally 100% fine. The nieces have the day off of school tomorrow (which doesn't get them off of schoolwork, not with me hanging around with math books to shove in their grubby little hands!), Jenn and my mom have off of work, I just got a new edition of Monopoly (which turned out to be the English edition, which somehow is weirder to me than the Star Wars edition that was our only version for years) and - win win win! - a new vintage Upwords, so we are set to ride out the storm.

Speaking of hurricanes

If you just would take a look-see down the list of "number of hurricanes per season", you might find it interesting, in an "interesting times" kind of way. Double digit hurricane seasons used to happen fairly infrequently, but the last time we had a season with less than 10 storms was back in 1997. Either we're flagging tropical storms and hurricanes at a weaker stage than we used to, always possible, or they're actually becoming more common. I don't know enough to know which it is.

Joss Whedon on Romney

Thanks, rainbow_goddess!

Fun fact: Hoarding canned goods is actually recommended by Mormons. I'm still not clear on how disaster preparedness is tied to religion, but it's not bad advice all the same to be ready for zombie apocalypses storms. You won't end up like me, at the store with all the other lazybones at the very last minute. Well, at least it's always amusing seeing what other people have apparently decided is an urgent necessity they MUST stock up on before the storm hits.