It's Here

This is what "It's coming" looks like.  Without benefit of newscasts or internet, the animals know when weather is headed our way.  The girls couldn't wait to get into the barn last evening.  Even Poppy, with her dulcet tones, was bellowing, "Let me in!"  And that was while it was still calm; the calm before the storm.

I was particularly grateful for electricity and water yesterday.  Bessie Anne, just at bedtime the night before, had yarked up all over the living room and again on the comforter on the bed.  I was able to wash and dry the bedding and clean up and vacuum the carpet.  The day was again spent getting ready for what is purported to be the worst storm in any number of years.  Oil lamps have been filled and wicks trimmed.  I did more baking, making sure everything was washed up afterward.  My friend Linda suggested making a pot of coffee and keeping it in the fridge, and I took her advice.  Our dependence on electricity these days is mind-boggling.  There is instant coffee in the cupboard, but "real" coffee has no substitute.  Bessie and I spent some time on the deck and I looked at my surroundings, wondering if they will look the same when this blows over.  The trees, always the trees, are my biggest worry.  Bess felt a lot better after losing what it was that had made her sick, and she enjoyed being out in the weak sunshine.  Flocks of blackbirds shot by like missiles overhead, propelled by a brisk tailwind.

The first winds hit about 11 last night (woke me up from my nap in the chair).  Dog and cats escorted me down the hall and huddled around me on the bed as we listened to the wind roar around the house.  The rain has not yet arrived this morning, but the wind is with us still.  It was reassuring to wake and see the red numbers on the bedside clock.  So far, so good.  I'm crossing my fingers for the trees and the barn roof.  It's going to be an interesting day.