It's so weird to be waiting for a big storm to hit.
All day long, you try to anticipate and prepare: get gas for the generator, do a pre-clean-out of the fridge, ready the chickens, vacuum the house, do laundry, run the dishwasher, fill prescriptions, stock up on wine, try to soak in as much air-conditioning as possible. And then suddenly you're as battened down as you feel capable of being and Henri is not a speedy storm so you have quite a few hours left during which to live like normal and you're left with the option of sitting down at your computer or doing a ride on the Peloton.
Hi. With potato chips and chardonnay, my favorite comfort meal. I know better, but.
While I was running all over town and freely using as much electricity as possible, Sean was busy doing this:
It all started last week with Sean "making inquiries" into a leak in the living room ceiling that occurred only when the wind blew the rain in a certain direction. In this case the answer was not what he wanted to hear: rotting window frames, which required the replacement of six windows and a whole lot of waterproofing and shingling, all with a hurricane huffing down his neck the last couple of days.
Meanwhile, before Henri was a twinkle in the sky's eye, our neighbor Mark found this tiny creature in his yard.
This is a baby girl squirrel. (The spit bubble kills me.) About two inches long, apparently blown or pushed out of her nest. On instructions from Sweet Briar and Google, Mark and I spent a day giving her mama every chance to find and reclaim her. When that didn't happen, I brought her in and put her on a heating pad for the night and in the morning began looking for an independent wildlife rehabilitator, since all the rescues were full. I found a lovely woman who happens to be a middle school English teacher. While I have trouble believing in divinity, I'll admit that coincidences are kind of hard to explain.
We took a day earlier in the week to go see the Yankees wallop the Red Sox. We aren't avid baseball fans, so we are a little bit lacking in swag. We had fun anyway.
One of the things you want to make sure you do before a hurricane, at least if your hot water heater depends on electricity, is shower. So I'm going to go do that and post this and wish everyone along in the storm's eye the very best of luck.