I heard a transformer blow and the power went off, then came right back on again. Whatever they did to fix things after Frances (when we were out for 5 days) really worked. Famous last words - I'll probably go dark later. I have no phone service, but I do have power and cable.

It's still blowing 40+ mph out there, with gusts much higher, but cabin fever forced me to take the dog out. Murphy took the longest pee of his entire life. I had become resigned to his using the carpet (any port in a storm, shall we say) but apparently he had been holding it since early evening yesterday. He's such a good boy, but his little eyeballs must have been floating, poor thing. I'm sure he'd like a longer walk, but the 60+ mph gusts are back, and he can hardly walk in that. Neither can I.

If the wind and rain ever lets up before it gets dark, which is looking less likely, I would love to get a picture of the massive old oak tree that is now down in the road. Had it fallen the other way, it would have taken out the second story of my neighbor's house. They were so lucky. Meanwhile, one of the Chinese Tallow trees beside my house is swaying ominously, and it is being blown TOWARD my house. I hope it has its very sturdy root system firmly clenched, or I may not be lucky at all. And if it comes down, the odds are it'd take out my new kitchen. Think sturdy root thoughts, please.

I lost a LOT of shingles, but miraculously, so far no leaks. Which is good, because I'd have to tarp the entire roof at this point. My neighbor, who was also out surveying the downed trees, said there are many more down and the drainage ditch behind my house is flooded. At that point the wind gusted again and I became really conscious of standing where another tree could come down at any moment, and came back inside.

It smells like fresh cut pine everywhere. That's what hurricanes smell like, they snap the pine trees in half and release that fresh sap smell. The wind is howling and the rain is still horizontal, but not as heavy as earlier. But this damn wind has got to let up, it's been blowing this hard for 12 hours now, and blowing steadily for 24.


I had to turn off the television - 14 hours of hurricane coverage has gotten rather monotonous. Yes, it's still raining, yes it's still blowing, maybe it will let up in four hours or so, maybe not. I'm so tired, I hope the office is closed tomorrow.