The latest track of Frances is still big, still messy, still bad - but not quite as horrifying as the earlier predictions. Lots and lots and lots of rain, I'm definitely moving the electronics to high ground, but the projected wind speeds are down to numbers that don't totally freak me out. It's still going to be wicked bad, mostly because we're not talking about a few hours, we're talking about 12-13 hours of that level of wind and rain. It's going to be just devastating, but compared to the high winds they were talking about earlier, it's awful on a slightly different level, and we take what we can get here. I'm still going to move, unplug, etc. and get on the road as early as I can - and I get up really early - but at this moment I'm slightly more comfortable that I will not come home to total disaster. A huge mess, real damage, yes - devastation, hopefully not.

I am an insomniac - a world class insomniac. If I wake up at 4 a.m., which is quite normal for me, I will not even pretend I have to go back to sleep for another work day. I will get up, suck down a lot of coffee, pour some into a thermal cup and load up and hit the road. If I can get north of Ocala before everybody else finishes breakfast at Denny's the rest of the ride should be fine. Frances has slowed down, so now it's not likely I'll be outrunning the outer bands. Girlchild is braced for me to hit her house by noon, and even leaving at, say, 5:30 or 6, I'm betting it'll be noon before I get there in the Exodus traffic.

How ironic that a week ago this was a pleasure trip, and now even my damn "vacation" is a source of demented stress. My life is just too damn weird.

I hope Fay's is open tomorrow or Saturday, I feel a need to fondle fibers and calm myself down. That's the kinda demented part of this that I feel slightly embarrassed about talking about in public, but hell, this is a knitting blog and I know you people "get it." My world is being menaced with a major hurricane and my many thoughts about this include: "Damn, I'm glad the yarn is in plastic containers!" and "So, what do I bring with me?" When you think about this, it's really a "That Girl Just Ain't Right in the Head" thang - of all the things to think of when a hurricane is bearing down, knitting is probably one of the weirdest and dumbest.

Knitting is more than a hobby, it's a crutch, an addiction, a "lovey" we fondle when we are under pressure. I have knitted through the most devastating times of my life. I knitted at my husband's bedside, day after day, as he was dying. I knit when I'm bored, when I'm stressed, when I'm tired, when I'm worried. I need to do it, the rhythm of the stitches and the concentration on watching the moving yarn calms me more than any other method I've ever tried. I need it.