Good Night, Irene

We were supposed to go to Cape Cod for five days over this weekend.  I spent days writing up my packing list and then putting it all together.  I had everything ready by Wednesday afternoon.  I was totally ready to leave first thing last Thursday morning, but Wednesday night we realized that the Cape was going to get a direct hit from Hurricane Irene, so we cancelled our trip.

I've lived in Vermont full-time for the past five years and didn't think that hurricanes could come this far inland--but Irene is coming straight for us here.  My sister told me that this hurricane is almost as big as Europe!

They say we should expect to lose our power, which is no surprise because we lose power here in the mountains on a regular basis.  So over the past three days I've been getting ready.  I brought out the candles.  I filled 10 gallon-sized bottles with tap water so that we can flush the toilet, brush our teeth, and wash our hands and faces--and put the bottles in the bathtub.  I bought plenty of spring water for drinking.  I baked several loaves of bread and cooked up a few pounds of chicken so we can have sandwiches if we can't cook.  My cellphone is fully charged and I have a book to read during the daylight hours.  I've also fully charged my MP3 player, so I can listen to a book after dark.

So, we're as ready as we're going to be.  Good night, Irene.  We hope we'll be ready when you show up tomorrow!