Hey, Hey, Hey, Here Comes Fay

Well, ‘tis the season—hurricane season that is. And the first storm, Fay (she’s still a tropical storm but soon to be a hurricane) is only hours away from hitting our fair state.

So as you can imagine, this will be a very short post as we prepare for her effects on our area of the state, and I believe sweetie and I about have everything ready: bottled water, batteries for flashlights and radio, non-perishable food items, vehicles fueled, a little cash on hand, etc. Now it’s just sit and wait for Fay’s arrival.

People often ask, “How can you live in an area that is prone to hurricanes?”

Hey, there’s earthquakes, fires, mudslides in California and various other places in the U.S., avalanches in the Rockies, tornados in the mid-west, etc. I figure pick your poison.

Besides, a hurricane party now and again doesn’t hurt—chips and dip, cookies soda, sandwiches, games, etc, all while you keep an eye on the television reports of the storm, until the power goes out of course.

A lot of people don’t realize too that with hurricanes it’s not just the wind and rain. Hurricanes spawn tornados too. Lovely addition to an already nerve racking experience, don’t you think?

Also, it’s interesting (and a little eerie) to see everybody scurrying around town for supplies, and seeing rows upon rows of houses boarded up in anticipation of the storm. I once saw a man boarding up the windows of his mobile home! Now there’s a lesson in futility if ever there was one. They’re called mobile for a reason! His house will be blown away but by golly his windows will be intact.

It’s a bit haunting also to walk into a supermarket for something you forgot to buy only to find the isles empty of people and the shelves empty of supplies. It’s sort of a surreal experience.

But now I hear the winds picking up outside, rain is soon to follow, and I need to secure the pontoons to my mobile, um, manufactured home. Hey, with an outboard motor attached to it as well, we’ll have us a regular ole redneck party yacht.

I think before the next hurricane approaches, I’ll look for a two-story mobile home-- turn it into one of those gambling cruise yachts. Now that’s an idea!