The kids had school off the latter half of the week. I toured a university with Joy, our oldest, on Wednesday. She’s a junior in high school and starting to feel out her options. I’m gratified that Joy is looking close to home. Some teens can’t wait to get hundreds of miles between them and their parents. Not so, our dear daughter. She drove to the university and most of the way back. It was one of her longer stints driving yet. And it was her first time to encounter rain behind the wheel. Those were some of the outer bands of Helene that she drove through. Helene’s long arms spread wide giving us heavy rains a solid day and a half before.
Thursday, I looked at the forecast: Steady winds forecasted in the 30-40 mph range with gusts to 70. That wind was to peak around eight in the morning Friday. I’ve experienced what 70mph winds can do. It’ll toss trampolines and kiddie pools with ease. So, I had the kids help me bring the wicker patio furniture into the garage along with the propane grill (lots of surface area, not much weight), the tiki torches, my wind chime and the shepherd’s hook it was hanging from. The patio umbrella was too heavy to move, so we left that in place, and the bike rack with bikes. I figured those things would be safe enough to not blow away. So, we weren’t haphazard in our preparations.
I took the kids to the bowling alley that afternoon. It was raining again. On the way home we saw some trees down, a foreshadowing of things to come. Though, like good foreshadowing, we didn’t know it for what it was. I assumed it had happened in a storm earlier in the week, a microburst perhaps.
Thursday evening was date night. I expressed that I wanted to stay close to home because I was worried about how the weather was shaping up. So, we tried a place close to us. They served up some of the best Mediterranean food we’ve had in the area. I was been skeptical when I saw the menu mentioned lettuce in their Greek salad. A Greek salad *should* consist of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives, and onion topped with feta cheese, herbs and dressed with olive oil and vinegar. No lettuce! That said, the salads served as a side with our orders was quite good in spite of a little lettuce. Landry and I agreed we’d have to go again soon. On the way home, we filled up with gas and I’m very glad we did. Mine would be the only drivable car for days after the storm.
I am the weather watcher of the family. I set my phone to wake me every couple of hours as those long arms of Helene spun. Thunderstorms and tornadoes were my biggest concern. After the first wake up, I didn’t have to set the alarm anymore. We kept getting alerts of flash flooding blaring on our phones every hour or two. As Landry and I bought a house high on a hill, we weren’t anxious about that. By the predawn hours, we were cranky, but awake…
Tuvela Two-Step 