When Florence Comes Calling

As of this writing, Hurricane Florence is spinning in the Atlantic southeast of Bermuda. Jim Cantore has landed at Wrightsville Beach in Wilmington NC and the MIL is now glued to The Weather Channel in Davidson County NC. She doesn’t really show it, but I can tell that the hurricane has her wringing her hands deep inside. She’s asked if we’ll have running water if the power goes out. She’s made checks on emergency lights. She has inventoried the toilet paper and calculated the amount of solid waste that each of us will produce. She is in "prep mode".

Jamie is a bit worried too, but she’s better at not letting it show. She was happy that her oldest Sam got in from Wilmington, NC at 4 O’ Clock this morning. She didn’t want him riding it out. But she has had her moments… “Where are all the flashlights? Why don’t we have enough batteries? Do we have enough food for the dogs? Why aren’t you prepared?”

So yeah, I’m a little ill-prepared. I’ve always been. I’m sure that I’d feel differently if I lived at the coast, but here in the left bosom of the Piedmont region I feel relatively safe. Sure, there could be some fallen trees and hopefully not on our property. I just don’t expect things to be down for days. So, call me a little optimistic.

But to appease the wife and calm the rising fears of the MIL, I’m headed out today for some provisions. Some batteries, some dog food, some beer, some beverages that end in "A-Rita" for the MIL, and I’m having the pool water tested.

I’d like to close the pool as soon as possible, but the hurricanes make it difficult. I remember that we had the same problem last year that delayed the closing for a week. Every day this week has chances of rain. But if I can get that joker closed today, I will be lactating with excitement all night long.

I’d like to keep it open until the first weekend in October, but the nearby trees like to cast aside their leaves right into the pool. I’m constantly pulling out about 20 pounds of fallen leaves every single day in September. That includes the skimmers as well. And since we had that cool spell, it started earlier in late August this year.

So yeah, I need to get this day kicked in the butt.

And by the way, I was jonesing for a little Facebook action yesterday. It’s an immediate go-to when I find a quiet moment. But I managed to resist the urge to log in. It’s kind of nice, but there’s part of me that believes that I’m missing something by not being part of the Facebook world. I’m starting to comprehend exactly why the younger kids don’t care for Facebook. I definitely feel like I’m in a form of rehab, but the detoxification feels pretty good.