Tropical Storm/Hurricane Karen is churning its way toward us. The Professor had planned to be out of town on a much-anticipated trip West for a wedding, but he stayed. He had to make his decision on Thursday, and at that point we just didn’t know whether it would be a hurricane by landfall, or still just a tropical storm. Had I not been pregnant, I would have said go ahead . . . but I just knew that if he left, suddenly it’d whip itself into Cat 4 and I’d have to put up the hurricane shutters, clear the porches of all items, and evacuate the children, all while pregnant and alone. We couldn’t risk it. We do have neighbors who would have helped as best they could, but they would have had their own hurricane prep to do and their own local grown children and grandchildren to support. The stress of navigating contra flow would have virtually guaranteed early labor and delivery of a preemie baby on the side of the road in dead standstill traffic while hurricane winds blew, with only my 5 yo and 3 yo to assist.*
Of course, very little of this was likely, but given all the unknowns, he canceled his trip. And now the storm is weakening and disintegrating. Which is fortunate, of course, but it’s too bad it couldn’t have been just a couple of days advanced so we’d know it was just going to be some heavy rain, and the husband could have done his trip anyway. Gulf Coast living. That’s how it goes. I remember a different tropical storm canceled my trip to see my sister get her bridal portraits done in Asheville. It’s part of life down here.
To make up for the disappointment, he has given himself the treat of edging the yard. (No sarcasm – he enjoys this. Not as much as cocktails by the pool, but close! The man likes tinkering with the landscaping, what can I say.) The boys and I put up the Halloween decorations, but canceled our original plans to go check out a corn maze. The storm won’t make landfall for 24 hours, but it’s already looking cloudy outside, and the wind is picking up. I am charging the portable DVD player and prepping for an extended period without power, just in case. There are plastic glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth and witch fingers strewn all over the floor, large spiders hanging from every light fixture, and approximately five hundred and thirty seven plastic pumpkin trick-or-treat buckets on various surfaces around the house. We’re having soup and bread for lunch. It could not be a more typical, somewhat boring, fall weekend.
But Karen is coming. Pray that our beautiful trees stay standing, that our lights stay on, and that the streets don’t flood.
*Isn’t it kind of sad that one of my first thoughts was – hmm, maybe if this is a significant natural disaster, Congress will be forced to “come together” and “compromise” and end this showdown? We have to pray for horrible things to befall our country, just to keep our federal government functioning at the most basic level.