Waiting for Hurricane Fay

Well, here we go again. This is our wakeup call, just 60 mph winds predicted (so far) and lots of flooding and tornado warnings. It's been four years since we were slammed by hurricanes Jeanne and Frances in rapid succession, and I've let myself get very complacent instead of getting into the frantic preparation mode of past years. I think it's partly because every time I look for something, it's in the Hurricane Box. Now they have come up with a new lame idea for safeguarding important papers: mail them to a friend or relative. If it's small enough to fit in a flat rate box, it's small enough to carry away in your car as you evacuate!

Good things about hurricanes: You get to know your neighbors better.
Bad things about hurricanes: Everything else.

I remember a hurricane hitting my grandmother's house when I was very young, and everyone was so serious, I knew it was a very bad thing. My grandmother said that when she was in a hurricane in her first house, way out in an orange grove, the wind lifted the linoleum off the floor. Florida houses were set on large blocks up off the ground back then, to keep them cool. They were called Cracker Houses, and the one I grew up in is still standing. It's over 100 years old.

Wish we'd thought to go to Blockbuster...