Waiting for Dorian

Scene from a bike ride on Labor Day.

Whatever we are waiting for — peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance — it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and graceful heart.

~ Sarah Ban Breathnach

If you spend your whole life waiting for the storm, you’ll never enjoy the sunshine.

~ Morris West

Corn waiting to be harvested. (From Monday’s bike ride.)

When it comes to Hurricane Dorian, things have changed a bit since my last post.  We are still not within the cone of uncertainty (meaning no direct hit, as of this writing), but we’ve gone from maybe getting some wind and rain to a tropical storm watch which has now been upgraded to a tropical storm warning.  It’s gonna get pretty windy and rainy around here.

The 1:00PM update from the National Hurricane Center.

See the blue shaded area?  That’s the Eastern Shore of Maryland.  The Eastern Shore of Virginia is in the red, meaning a hurricane warning.  Given that we’re not far from the Virginia border, we’re on the edge of the tropical storm warning and the hurricane warning.  That could change, as these things tend to do.

Someone bought and is repairing this A-frame house. It was, I think (but I’m not absolutely sure), damaged during Hurricane Sandy. It’s located in an area that saw quite a bit of damage from Sandy.  The roof and the part of the house facing the water was damaged.  It’s missing walls now because of the repairs/renovation.

Our local weather folks are not getting too excited about it just yet.  The only evacuation notices are for Smith Island and that’s for a voluntary evacuation.  Harsh weather usually brings about evacuation notices for Smith Island.  It’s difficult to get out there during a storm since the only way to get there is by boat.  I follow our county emergency services folks on Facebook, and it was interesting to note the comments on the evacuation recommendation.  The one that stood out for me was this:

Those watermen and their families are tough. They’ve been through other storms and they’ll get through this. God bless them!

That pretty much sums up most attitudes around here when it comes to tropical storms, hurricanes, and nor’easters.

The first of Dorian’s clouds arrived here around noon yesterday. The hurricane was still next to Florida, but some of the outer bands stretched far north.

As you know, I am not so blasé when it comes to storms.  I spent my morning working out some of the anxiety by exercising (a good, strong cardio and strength workout), getting on the mat for some yoga, and meditating.  We will start battening down the hatches late this afternoon, when M gets home from work.  There is not a lot to be done.  Just shift around some stuff on the deck to make it sure it can’t be used by the wind as projectiles.  We already took care of the bigger things yesterday.  We are stocked up on water and food, and pretty much as prepared as we’re going to be.

Another look at the first clouds.

I’m going to fix up a big pot of chili this afternoon.  It’s good stuff to have on hand if there is a power outage.  We have a gas cook-top that can be lit with a match or we can always heat things up on the grill, including a pot of chili.

Dorian’s outer band clouds provided nice color for sunset yesterday.

I should have gone out to the Point for sunset yesterday.  It turned out to be quite beautiful.  I didn’t go because it was looking so cloudy and gray about ten or fifteen minutes before sunset that it seemed like a wasted trip.  But I did get to see some of it from here.  I will be sure to go out tomorrow.  Dorian will have moved through by then and sometimes the storms leave behind fantastic sunsets.

As the colors deepened.

Time for me to get working on that chili I mentioned earlier.  Thank you so much for visiting today, and waiting with me for a little while.  If you’re in the path of the storm, be safe.

Be good, be kind, be love.  ♥

Sunrise this morning. It was very still, hot, and humid. It’s been cloudy all day, and it’s starting to get a little breezy.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  1,141)  Shelter from the storms.  1,142)  Incredible clouds and magical sunsets.  1,143)  Our county emergency services folks.  They work hard and deserve a lot of thanks.  1,144)  The weather folks, who do the best they can with the science available.  1,145) Calming practices, and being in the habit of practicing those practices.

Monday really was a beautiful day.  This weekend is supposed to be lovely, too.