Being Prepared. Sort Of.

I swear to god I thought I posted this picture of the new ironing board cover which fits nicely and I do love the roses. I think I actually did put it in a post and even wrote about the amount of dust on the legs of the ironing board but then deleted it. You'd think I would have dusted those legs by now but no, I have not. The motivation factor around here has not gotten one bit better. 

I went to Publix and Costco today because we're supposed to be getting some kind of major storm here tomorrow. I mean- they've closed the schools. Lots of rain, lots of wind, possible tornados. Even my favorite meteorologist, Rob Nucatola, sounds a little concerned. And he's my favorite because he doesn't get hysterical every time a hurricane comes within four thousand miles of here. He's not an alarmist, in other words. But when he said that he was going to be bringing his wife's plants in from off the patio, not because of cold but because of wind, I got a little freaked out. 
I just read a post from the US National Weather service that contained this warning:

"Winds gusts of 40-50 mph are possible across the area on Tuesday. Given wet soils, this could result in trees falling more easily. "

Oh hell. This county is going to lose electricity for a very long time. Thank goodness for our generator but good Lord, I hope a tree doesn't fall on it. Or us, either, for that matter. 

So what have I done to prepare? 
Make sure we have enough food to last for weeks for no reason whatsoever and also, I have taken the hanging ferns down off the front porch and set them ON the porch.

That should do it, right? 

I hope so. I suppose that Glen and I should clean out the little space under the stairwell so that if we have to hunker down in there we can. I think that would be the safest place in the house. You know what? I've never seen a tornado in my life, much less been in one and I really do not want to start with that mess now. I have seen waterspouts over bays and oceans and that's scary enough. All of my kids live in relatively strong houses and apartments but Tallahassee has trees galore. I think the power situation is going to be bad there, as well as here. 

Gibson wanted me to drive him by the fally down house when he was here and I did. It has gotten even more horizontal in the last few months and I'm thinking this storm may bring it flat to the ground entirely. I worry about all of the people around here who live in trailers and not great trailers, either. 

Well, I'm future-tripping which is what I'm best at. That, and sticking my head in the sand, which is rich with irony. 

I'm getting close to being halfway through the Streisand book. She is keeping my attention. I'm just about to hear the part where she makes "A Star is Born" which I am interested in because I've always had a bit of a crush on Kris Kristofferson and I'd like to hear her take on him and what working with him was like. The way he talks always reminded me of our friend Ross's voice which is to say- oh honey, let me just shut my eyes and you go ahead and read me the phone book. I'll just get comfortable on this chaise lounge. 
Sigh. 

The McMurtry bio also continues to hold my attention although I have learned some confusing things from it. One of my favorite of McMurtry's novels is "Moving On". He wrote it at the beginning of his career when he was quite young and it's a long novel, filled with everything from rodeo competitors, to movie stars, to an old widowed cowboy who is no doubt based on one of McMurtry's uncles, to hippies in San Francisco, and also students of literature at Rice University in Houston. And their spouses. And kids. 
These are all subjects and characters that McMurtry knew intimately and he does an amazing job of bringing these characters to fully-fleshed-out life. The one character in the book who never seems exactly filled out though, is the character that I now realize was based, at least loosely, on himself. Not only was the character a little cloudy, he is a dolt, an asshole, a completely self-entitled jerk who has no idea what to do with his wife or his life. 
So that's interesting. 

It's starting to rain a little. Just a gentle patter now. As has been forecasted. 
Hopefully, I'll be able to report in tomorrow evening, alive and well and laughing at my concern. It's funny how the weather forecasts are so often perfect examples of the boy who cried wolf, but dammit- not always. 

Be well. 

Love...Ms. Moon