I'm sitting here

watching the Weather Channel in horrified fascination, and feeling so sad and helpless for New Orleans and Biloxi and Mobile. There's nothing to do but sit and wait until it passes.

It really puts last year in perspective. Yeah, three hurricanes, blah blah, when it was over I needed a roof and some minor repairs, it was inconvenient, it sucks to spend a week without electricity, but it was NOTHING compared to this. Nothing at all. And I also realize that a Cat 4 or 5 that size could whack us, too, so the empathy level is high. There but for the grace of God, etc., until the next one. I'm hundreds of miles away from Katrina, but the clouds over my house right now are from the outer bands - the damn thing fills a huge portion of the Gulf of Mexico. Go read Caroline, who was blindsided in the middle of the night by a "minimal" hurricane that was supposed to hit way up in Vero. If Katrina taught us anything, it's that there is no such thing as a "minor" hurricane. Miami was totally not ready. New Orleans is as ready as it can get, but how can you get ready for Freaking Armageddon?

And this will not be just a coastal thang - after it blasts the coast this monster will continue inland and cause flooding and devastation all the way up. If you're on the path, take it way seriously - stockpile the food and water and batteries and toilet paper (and yarn and trashy novels).

On the subject of yarn - yes, I'm changing the subject - today I went to the Sip and Knit sale - got 25% off with my gumball, so I was fairly restrained - vs. say, if I'd gotten 40%. I did buy 4 skeins of my new obession Euroflax linen in a delightful and cheery green - I am thinking baby blankets for Grandchildren to be Identified Someday Much Later. Green is such a nice gender neutral color - and it's not that blah mint green baby green, but a grownup green. It would be great in a basketweave or my obsession, feather and fan. It could, if it chose to, become a shawl, too. I think I'll wind it later and ask it.

The sale was packed, madness, crazy - I got in early, got what I went for and got out. The overflow parking at Publix thing? The way to go. The "grand reopening" will be Sept 10th, I suspect it will be a crush of humanity again. Then the following weekend is the Florida Fiber-in. I am fiber crazy again. It's good to be back.