“Remoted” – Day 524 (Sunday)

On Saturday, preparations were made for the arrival of Henri, the unwanted guest, still to be labeled as a tropical storm or a hurricane. The deck chairs were removed from the deck to the enclosed front porch. Twice since the opening was cut in the deck rail to provide access to the back yard, the chairs were driven across the deck by non-hurricane winds and tossed into the back yard. The flower pots and plant stands on the deck were also brought inside. Last year, my favorite terra cotta pot blew off the deck rail and smashed on the ground in non-hurricane wind. 

What was not done in advance of the weather was mowing the lawn. I looked at it and recognized it was already a few days past mowing. I felt the humidity on my skin. I assessed my energy level. I went back inside and made dinner, thinking I’d wait until the sun had moved lower, “maybe around 7:00.” Ha! No mowing happened. There will be a price to pay with extra effort when the lawn finally dries out again. Every choice bears a consequence, for better or worse.

Sunday morning began quiet and cloudy. Visits to stores had been avoided on Friday and Saturday, but the last trash bag in the house was in the kitchen can and filling for trash pickup on Monday. A trip was necessary to restock. A list was drafted -- trash bags, coffee, and cinnamon, my kitchen trick to make even crappy coffee taste better.

Sunday veggies, rice,
and cheese.

As I stepped outside at 9:00, the first big, heavy drops of rain began to land on the driveway with a splat. It appeared that Henri was knocking on the door. Thanks to the gutter cleaning of last month, there waterfall over the front door is now gone. The Family Dollar parking lot was blissfully empty with just two cars parked, likely because the CBD retailer across the street wasn’t open yet. The shopping was quick. I don’t even think Winston even knew I was gone when I came back in a half hour later.

The cool, rainy weather made for pleasant baking conditions. Today’s veggie special from the family farm bonanza was baked zucchini, squash, rice, and cheese. So good. 

As for Henri – there was moderate steady rain all day, but nothing horrible. witht he exception of possible thunder in the morning, it was all quiet all day on The BungaLowell front. The version of Henri that made landfall headed west – northwest and bothered another section of the state. The basement remained dry and the usual driveway puddle wasn’t even as large as the July rain.