She showed up on the radar last week, out past Puerto Rico. Elsa. A tropical storm that became a hurricane and now is a tropical storm that might be a hurricane in a few hours. It might strike east of us (looks like Tampa at the moment) but it's wind and might shift. Who knows?
And it's been so oddly quiet since she showed up out there. Bob loved the weather channel (he called it "Old Guy MTV." And when something like this came along, the TV would be popped onto the weather channel first thing out of bed, and there it would remain. There would be tension in the air. His huge collection of 5-gallon GI water cans would be dragged out from the barn and filled, along with a motley collection of whatever other plastic containers that were never thrown away because they might be useful. The generator would be tested. Tarps would be at the ready.
So things would feel a little nervous. Especially with the TV on. Fear mongering means bigger ratings, so they will constantly stress the dangers of a storm, and even though it was downgraded to a tropical storm, they will still call it a "hurricane watch" because it might turn into a hurricane again.
But me? The weather channel hasn't been on at all. The NOAA hurricane site updates its information about every 6 hours, so I take a quick look to see what's happening. I started prep this morning, after a leisurely breakfast and my usual morning chores.
No mountain of water cans. I have about a three day supply of water in recycled bottles (for drinking) and a half-dozen buckets in the bathtub filled with water. Because I'm on a well with an electric pump (and the generator isn't big enough to run the pump), so if I lose power, I don't have water. So as well as drinking water for me and the various critters, I also need flushing water. If push comes to shove I can pretend that I'm a bear and go poop in the woods, but I'd rather be more civilized.
I have the big portable battery (the type that can jump cars and inflate tires and be used for a charging station) up at the house and charging. I've charged all of my devices. I moved the FIT under the carport (the old faithful Honda is being left in the driveway, with the logic that the two cars should be separated so they both don't get hit by the same tree). I've reinforced the retaining wall around the chicken coop so hopefully I won't have to shovel too much washed-in dirt out of there. I brought the plastic yard chairs onto the front porch. The laundry is done, and in a bit here I'm going to go wash my hair.
In short - if the power goes out for a few days, I'm ready. I've learned that I don't mind living for a bit without electricity, but lack of water is a real pain in the butt. I didn't bother with the generator; the only thing we used it for during the 8 days we didn't have power after Hurricane Michael was to try to keep the fridge cold. Now that I am One Person there isn't that much food stored in it.
So a couple of hours of sort of putzing around and I'm set. Yes, a tree might fall on the house, but there's not much I can do in advance about that. I'll deal with whatever happens.
But there will be no staring at the weather channel, no wondering what else we can to to prepare. Just me. Probably knitting.
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