Wind

We are expecting our first windstorm of the season today. Depending on how close the low comes to us, we could have wind gusts of 50mph. Right now it is calm. A time to get all the laundry done, and pick up anything outside that will fly away.

I love windstorms. Granted, I live in a relatively treeless area, so power outages are generally short lived, and I have never experienced a tree going through my house. Our big windstorm last year left us without power for 10 hours or so. It went out just after the boys went to bed, and was on by the time they got up. My parent's house was out for 10 days.

I enjoy the feeling of hunkering down, not being able to watch the TV, or mess about on the computer. A fire burns in the wood stove. Thing 2 makes a "nest" of blankets and pillows, laying on the floor in front of the stove, book in hand. Candles are burning, and I heat water for tea or hot chocolate on the wood stove. We play games while there's light enough to see, and tell stories when there isn't. Mr. E has a few ongoing stories that the boys love. It used to be Captain Smile and Mr. Hurt, or Agent Cobra and Agent Viper. Mostly they love Willard stories - an obese seagull that floats off the ferry dock next to the McDonald's in Seattle, that often gets mistaken for a buoy.

I alway feel like I have to get prepared whenever there's an "event" like this, whether wind or snow. It never fails that when I am prepared, nothing happens, and when I'm not - well, that's when we get 10" of snow*. There's enough in the freezer and the pantry that we could last for a month if we had to, but it always seems like I'm that one magic ingredient short for this or that. Ah, well. One of these days I need to learn how to cook by putting together the things I have instead of going strictly by a recipe.

So, off to get "prepared" and ensure that this isn't anything more than a light blow.

*Ok, I can drive in the snow, sort of. I live in a really hilly area (100-250ft elevation per mile driven) with no guardrails, pathetic plowing, and a bunch of nuts in their SUVs driving over the speed limit, not caring which lane they're in.


Later -

Looks like we had a 40mph gust. Not bad for the first storm of the season. Lost power for about 3 hours this afternoon. Got it back just in time to make dinner. All's well, but the backyard looks a mess.