Winds Winding Widdershins

And so we wait for the winding widdershins winds. Areas close to us have gotten the first bands of heavy rain, but the patterns are diffuse and arbitrary at the moment, with only the outermost bands of Irene barely brushing our area. That will change as the day progresses.

Preparations are mostly complete. I’ve done my usual Saturday grocery shopping this morning. I already filled the little Prius’s tank two days ago, and I’m glad I did since the gas stations I passed today were four to five cars deep at each pump. While I have candles at home, I did not relish the idea of having to light vanilla, tulip, basil and cherry candles simultaneously in case we’d need non-electric lighting, so I purchased what had to be the last unscented pillar candles in this county at a fabric/craft store in my area. I picked up a bunch of unscented tea candles at the dollar store as well. The patio furniture is in, along with potted plants and garden gizmos. I’ve taken pictures of the outside of the house (all sides) and the two cars that we are leaving outside the garage (the new Mazda gets inside shelter from the storm) on the off chance I’ll need them for insurance claims. All fragiles are removed from window sills, and blinds are down in the windows that have them. I went to the bank and pulled out a few hundred in cash; the last time we lost power for a few days stores that were open couldn’t run credit cards but would still sell to cash customers.

The Prof was up late doing his share of storm preparation, so he’s sleeping in at the moment. As soon as he awakens, I’m going to caulk up the leaky drain in the Jacuzzi and fill it with water; this may be the first thing that the damned hole in the master bathroom been useful for since we moved into this condo.

I had planned on purchasing D-batteries at my pharmacy yesterday, but they had already sold out when I arrived at 11:00 for my shift. Searching for batteries after work was fruitless – Radio Shack, Ace Hardware, other pharmacies, Sears, Wal-Mart and an endless list of different grocery store chains had also sold out of D-batteries. Fortunately, Elder Sister had over purchased and actually had a super-pack of D batteries that she gave me.

I refuse to turn on the all-hurricane-all-the-time news, so now I’m just puttering about, trying to think of things I may have forgotten. The cats are in their various favorite places of repose, with the Little Brownie the only one keeping vigil at the only window that has no blinds.

While I was typing this up, the rain began. The rain is still light, but the sky is grey. Traffic on the main road out front is sparse, with people running last minute errands and then hurrying home with their own equivalents of candles, crackers and cash. Good luck to all.