Tuesday, September 5, 2017

It's Really Not Funny But Let's Laugh While We Still Can

Well, for whatever reason I have reached a place of absurd acceptance in the hurricane preparedness mind-mode.
I say that but this could change at any second.
I mean, my stomach is still constantly feeling like I might puke but my mind is pretty okay.
Except when I think about the two strange things I saw today. One was two juvenile raccoons, trundling right down Old Lloyd Road which is a pretty heavily traveled road, as if they had a destination involved. Raccoons do not generally do walk-abouts during the day and I have NEVER seen a coon just walking down a paved road. Ever. They were about as cute a sight as you can possibly imagine but still...it just didn't feel right.
The other was a doe who was just standing on the shoulder of another fairly busy road, looking confused and disoriented. She had not been hit, she was just standing there.
Again- unusual.

But, you know, probably nothing but a strange coincidence.

Here's what the latest map looks like:


Or, if you prefer the more traditional "cone of uncertainty" there is this one. 


Bottom line is, we still don't know shit about where that storm is going to go. But. The fact of the matter is, it's already a catagory five storm and is, at this time, the 5th biggest Atlantic storm recorded in history. 
And they get bigger and they get stronger over the Gulf. 
And before this thing blows itself out, some people are going to go through hell. There is no way around that. And a lot of them are going to be the people who live in some of the poorest places in the world. 

So. 

This is a serious thing and people were lined up to get gas and water at Costco, and Publix was out of water and ice. There was not ONE cart in the cart area of Costco and I have never seen that before. Floridians are taking this seriously and at least in this family, discussions about evacuations are taking place. May and I were just talking and she and Michael have even made plans to take their cat if they evacuate and I, of course, haven't even thought about that. But then I said, "Hey! Jack spent twenty-eight days in a bedroom and he was FINE!" and I started laughing in that weird sort of wacko-crazy way and then May joined in and well, we've just got to laugh. 



It's not really funny at all, none of it is, but here we are and we're doing all we can do to get ready and laughing does really help with that puke feeling in the belly.
What? Me worry? 
Hahahahahahahahahaha!

Throw in the fact that the west coast is on fire and Trump's termination of DACA which is the most cruel and inhumane and STUPID thing possible the fucking racist could have done and I just want to hook myself up to a canister of laughing gas and let the good times roll!
Don't bogart that joint, my friend! And pass that bottle over here!

Okay. Calm down, Mary. Just simmer down, now. 

I stopped by Lily's house on my way home to deliver a few treats for the kids including a Costco-sized allotment of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Gibson saw that and shouted, "YOU ARE AMAZING!" and my day was worth it. Owen was pretty happy about that too. And Maggie? Well, she was just happy to see me because that's our Maggie. 


And...continuing in the theme of this morning's poem about Keith Richards (and I am so sorry that it formatted so insanely for some of you) I add this picture which I found on the Facebook today. 


If Billy Collins was correct, we are still okay, us Planet Earthlings, because Keith and the Stones are about to kick off a fall European tour in Hamburg in four days. I feel quite sure that Muddy Waters will be mentioned. 
And Keith looks good, doesn't he? 
Well, I think so. I think he looks SPLENDID!
I hope he could get up off the floor. I'm frankly quite impressed he got down there to begin with. 

Mr. Moon's out back, trying to fit the old convertible (or the Honeymoon Car, as Owen calls it) back into the garage. He pulled it out recently to work on a deer blind or something. Hurricane preparation takes many forms. 
And please, don't worry. I think I have an adequate amount of vodka and pickled okra.
Priorities, people. Priorities. 

Stay tuned! 

Love...Ms. Moon











25 comments:

  1. Whew, how well I can imagine (unfortunately) your state of mind.
    And yet you are prepared, you have each other, you're all competent
    and experienced, so all that's needed is just a little bit of luck.
    Wishing it for you all, including the chickens.

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    Replies
    1. One never feels prepared enough. At least...not me. And so I'll take all the luck I can possibly get. Thank you.

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  2. Oh, I am thinking of you as this storm comes in. It will undoubtably impact a lot of folks, and I hope that you and your family are not among them.

    We are burning out here in the west, it is thick with smoke in my valley and gloomy and depressing, it seems like the weather is making it tough all over this country. I'm hoping for rain to help the fire fighting efforts and hoping the waters recede in Houston. It's a weird world.

    Stay safe!
    Dee

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    Replies
    1. It has not escaped many of us, the irony of the flames and the floods. What a hard and strange summer.

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  3. I'm stuck here in Illinois seeing pics on Facebook and texts of our winter home (a cute little trailer park between Palmetto and Bradenton). The hatches are being battened and the water and plywood are disappearing from the Publix and Home Depot shelves. My family there don't seem overly concerned, but they're not being lackadaisical either. Just Floridians who've been through this before, I guess. Be safe, Mary and kin!!

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    Replies
    1. We have, of course, been through this before but I'm not sure we've ever seen a storm quite like this. We shall just have to wait and see what happens. There is no way to predict.

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  4. I'm having a bit of a meltdown myself in south Florida. I'm gonna try really hard to savor these last few normal days It won't be for a long time after this passes. Stay safe.
    Xoxo
    Barbara

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  5. The absurdity gene is one of the things I possess that I am most grateful to the universe for --

    I am hoping that the storm will fizzle out, that everyone will be safe, that the west coast will stop burning, that the Keebler Elf and the Predator in Chief will be raptured and a new day dawns.

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    Replies
    1. All excellent things to hope for, my love! Thank you!

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  6. This storm is terrifying. Please do whatever is necessary to prepare and stay safe...and please check in as you can. I'm worried for my Florida friends. Hell, I'm pretty worried about South Carolina too. Irma is a monster.

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    Replies
    1. Yep. No one on the east coast is really safe. Or anywhere in Florida, either due to the hugeness of the storm.
      We can only wait and see.

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  7. I have lived in the middle of Houston for 40 years and so, have gone through many hurricanes and such. But I can hardly think about Hurricane Irma before the water recedes from streets in Houston. Too too much! PS we weren't flooded this week. Whoa. Barbara

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad you weren't flooded! I myself can't even begin to start worrying about Hurricane Jose. I mean...one thing at a time, please!

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  8. Keith does look good. Irma looks fierce. It's going to be long week.

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  9. I am hoping you and yours will be safe. I can't handle all the sadness and fucked up crap going on. I feel fortunate and a wreck at the same time.

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  10. Just read more about Irma. Should you leave before the possibility of it hitting? How do you decide? Yikes!!!

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    Replies
    1. It's a tricky thing- trying to decide whether or not to leave because of course none of the forecasts are definitive. And you have to balance out the traffic and lack of hotel rooms against staying and living without AC. I really have no idea.

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  11. Replies
    1. I wish it would swerve and miss all of us. Thank you.

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  12. This definitely doesn't look like a storm to be messed with, but it's still early days, at least for you. Who knows where it will go, though it looks pretty certain that someone in some part of Florida is going to get walloped.

    Cinnamon Toast Crunch -- I haven't thought of that in years.

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    Replies
    1. Cinnamon Toast Crunch is awesome. I will attest to that. I don't think I'd ever tried it until Owen convinced me that I had to.
      This storm? Ay-yi-yi.
      All has definitely not been revealed yet.

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  13. The Animals are usually very much in tune with Nature and any pending dangerous weather, they know... their radar has picked up on it.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.