Monday miscellany - 10Oct16

Well. Last week I said I expected a rather interesting week, and to say it was would be an understatement. By early Wednesday, it was looking like Hurricane Matthew would make a direct strike on our area as a Category 4, which is stronger than anything we've weathered in this house. We do have a relatively new roof, and hurricane shutters, which we didn't when Frances and Jeanne came through in 2004, but a cat4 was still a bit concerning. Still, we stayed in place and prepared as best we could, and waited for it to pass through.

There's a certain surreality with an approaching tropical storm, especially a powerful one. The associated low pressures play havoc with the body and the brain - headaches, muscle aches, lethargy. And just the sense of impending doom, the worry, the stress, the cabin fever as one either evacuates with one's family in a metal box to a hotel room, or shelters in place behind aluminum or plywood. The obsessive stalking of the weather websites or TV (Wunderground is my go-to, with cross-references to National Hurricane Center).

I went to sleep around 11pm Thursday night, expecting to be awakened by the worst of the storm passing through starting around 2am, and in for a sleepless night after.

I did awaken around 2:30, but we still had power and the storm didn't sound too bad yet, and I went back to sleep. I woke up again around 5:30, when the worst of the storm had been projected to have already passed.

We still had power. I could hear the winds outside, but it didn't sound horrible. A check of the forecast track showed it due east of us....about 20 miles offshore.

We were extremely fortunate - no damage, and the area was spared the worst - only some downed trees and fences. Beachside took it a bit worse, but still significantly better than could have been. And while 2/3 of the county had lost power, it was almost all back by last night. We ourselves never did lose power.


What I've been reading... I'm on page 489 of 620 in _The Autumn Republic_. I should finish this week, then off to a collection of short stories also associated with the Powder Mage trilogy.

What I've been crafting... I'm about 65% done with Ink Circles "Tapestry". I did stitch some, but not as much as one would expect for having an extra two days off work. Some of it was all the minor tasks that normally take up one's time, and some of it was just storm-induced lethargy.

Fumbling toward fitness... I only made it by Curves once due to hurricane prep and aftermath, and only treadmilled for 5.2 miles over 104 minutes. However, I did get a bit of a work out putting up and taking down hurricane panels, so I wasn't a total slacker. I may do better with treadmill this week, but not certain about Curves - they were closed again today due to water damage from the storm.

One Little Victory Avoiding a direct strike from a powerful hurricane and suffering no damage is a rather large victory indeed!