We are about to pounded by Hurricane
Irene. (Actually, NOAA predicts that it will be Tropical Storm Irene
by the time it hits my house and barns.) So, everybody and his sister
is running out to “stock up” on supplies.

I went to grocery store yesterday to
buy dog food. When I got there, I decided to also buy batteries for
my radio. It takes “D”-size. Six of them.

Do you know that there was not
one freaking “D”-size in the whole damned place???? Not one!

There
were “C”-size, “AA”-size, “AAA”-size and those square
little 9-volt jobbers, but not a single “D”-size could be
found!!!!!!!!!!

There
was plenty of milk and bread and eggs on the shelves, even though
people were buying those items like crazy. (Can somebody tell me why
it is so important to have the ingredients for French toast during a
hurricane or tropical storm?)

However,
all of the bottled water was gone!

Bottled
water?

Uh-huh.
When asked, people say that they need it to flush their toilets.

Well,
you know what? Looking around my house, I've noticed that everywhere I find a toilet, I find a bathtub right next to it!!!
SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOO, rather than flushing the
toilet with Perrier, I just fill the bathtubs with water apres
storm,
and, transfer the water from tub to toilet via plastic bucket.

Irene
is supposed to blast in here early Sunday morning and exit sometime
Sunday afternoon, carving out a path of carnage and destruction, if
you can believe the local weather people, akin to what the Huns did
to the Roman Empire.

Now,
don't get me wrong. I am all about being prepared. I've got food for humans, cats, dogs and horses on
the premises. I will fill both bathtubs in the house.I'll fill the
hot tub outside with fresh water and not turn on the heater. I've got
flashlights. My three cars and truck will be filled with gas. I'll
have three 5-gallon containers filled with regular gas and two filled
with diesel for my tractor.

Tomorrow,
Mary and I will head down to the boat, which is moored in a little
cove in the northern section of Narragansett Bay, and we'll batten
down the hatches...literally. We'll throw an extra line to the
mooring and dismantle the dodger and stow it below deck, making the
vessel as streamlined as possible.

Then,
we'll come back home and bring in all of the lawn furniture.

That's
about it for our storm preparations.

Am
I worried?

A
little.

I'll
be honest, I get concerned about this kind of thing, simply because I
HATE to lose power! I have this irrational fear about not having
electricity!!!! (I get it from my old man, who REALLY used to panic
about storms.)

But,
to tell you the truth, this is going to be easier to handle than,
say, a major blizzard, like the three I had to contend with alone
this past winter when Mary was in Florida. With this thing, there
will be no plowing out. No worrying about heating the house with the
wood. No trudging through five-foot drifts to get to the barn. No
freezing to death. No worrying about being “snowed in” or driving
in hazardous conditions.

According
to Weather.com, Monday is supposed to be beautiful around here.
Mostly sunny with highs in the mid-seventies during the day and the
mid-fifties at night. Same thing with Tuesday.

Mary
gets back from Washington, D.C. this afternoon. She's been gone since
Tuesday with my middle grand-daughter, who is seven.

It
is a beautiful, sunny summer day here today with a temperature around
80 degrees and low humidity. When she gets home this afternoon, Mary
and I will sit outside with a couple of Bloody Marys, (Absolut, Mrs.
T's, and Queen olives stuffed with garlic cloves.) We'll talk and
laugh and play with dogs. Then, for supper, I'll do steaks cooked on
the grill with scalloped potatoes and summer squash from our garden.
(I cut the squash length-wise about ¼” thick, throw the pieces on
the grill and brown on side. Then, I flip them over, cover them with
olive oil, and smother them with parmesan cheese. When the cheese
turns a golden brown, they are ready to eat...and they are the
best-tasting things you ever put in your mouth!!!!!)

Life
goes on!

In
fact, it not only “goes on”, but it is GREAT!!!!!

We
will survive.