Look Who's Coming to Dinner

9:22am

It's hurricane day today. I have decided to start a post this morning in diary format and update it throughout the day (I must be bored). I have no idea what the day will bring, but some of the forecasts seem to be at odds over what to expect. Weather.com's headline news would have you believe that the end of the world is upon us. Their hour by hour forecast has heavy rains and winds near 40 mph between dinner tonight and dawn tomorrow. That's not exactly the same thing, although I do recognize that well inland on higher ground is very different from being on the coast, and the hour by hour forecast here truly is local.

8:00am - It was gray at dawn this morning and it has been gray and solid overcast since. The air is perfectly still, but the cloud cover is moving steadily and fairly briskly from east to west. I guess that means hurricanes spin counterclockwise since we are north of the storm. Looking at the pinwheel images, that is obviously true.

9:30am - No change. Our lawnmowers are here working several clients in the neighborhood as fast as they can. With all the rain we have already gotten this month our lawn looks like a green wheat field and they have had a hard time finding clear days to cut.

10:15am - We are starting to have some breeze in the taller tree tops, but not much else.

11:35am - It's getting breezier off and on, and we have had a few small patches of rain, but nothing substantial yet. Ran to the mall quickly for a few errands and am heading back out now. I want to get the ingredients to make Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner if I can get them. Who knows what a food store is going to look like today, but it's worth a shot. If we are going to be stuck in the house I'd just as soon cook a nice meal.

12:45pm - Breezes are pretty much unchanged, but a light steady rain has started.

3:25pm - Raining moderate and steady but not bad by any means yet. Very little wind.

4:45pm - On a normal Saturday we might cook a nice dinner and have the neighbors over, so that's what we are going to do. Still just a light steady rain.

6:20pm - Very light rain. Not much wind. Tikka Masala smells fantastic.

9:35pm - Dinner was terrific. Even the finicky kids loved it. Our friends have gone home, the kids are in bed, and we are getting ready to go up to read or maybe watch a movie (power willing). While I was writing this periodic update, we had a split second power surge that shut off the computer and lost my edits. Grace is reading an e-book on the iPad and is concerned about the storm. It is raining hard now and there is some gusty wind, but it is nothing bad yet. Unfortunately, Grace has been hearing gloom and doom weather forecasts all day and is worried. Hopefully the kids will sleep well. If all goes well, I will have power and be able to post an update in the morning. I suspect I will be able to, as the forecast isn't that bad where we are away from the coast. Nite nite everyone, and see you on the other side. :-)