There's A Storm A-Comin'

There is a scene in "The Empire Strikes Back" (clearly the best film of the "Star Wars" trilogy, by the way) in which Han Solo is trying to fix his ship while hiding in a cave when he hears a noise outside. He goes out to see what it is because, "I just got this bucket of bolts back together. I'm not going to let something tear it apart!" (Have I lost all but my nerdiest of readers? Yes? Ok, we'll just move on then.) Anyway, I couldn't help but think of that quote this afternoon as I headed down to Wareham to button the beach house up before the arrival of Irene this weekend. You see, it would be quite ironic timing if just after the new deck was finished (the last thing that needed to be done down at the beach house before we could consider it really done), some giant storm came along and essentially hit the reset button on the place. Honestly, the though would make me laugh if it didn't want to make me cry even more.

However, I don't know if you are aware of this, but I have the weird power to change weather patterns based on my actions. If snow is forecast and I run out to get salt, firewood, gas for the snowblower and move the shovels right next to the door, then it is almost a certainty that the storm will suddenly hit a warm front no one expected and the foot of snow that was expected will now just be a few annoying drops of rain. And if a storm isn't expected to be a big deal and I react by just leaving everything as is, suddenly it will pick up strength and bury us under a blizzard. Really, it's kind of a gift.

So, because I want this storm to stay as far away from the beach house as possible, I was extra thorough in my cleaning. Not only did I make sure all the windows and doors were secure as well as clearing everything off the deck and bringing all the chairs and grills inside, but I took the extra step of moving any low-lying electronics to higher ground, unplugging any electrical sockets that were below the flood line the last time a storm of this size rolled through, put chairs up on tables and then killed the power to everything but the refrigerator. I did pretty much everything I could think of. Therefore, it was no surprise that by the time I got home the storm's track had headed further west.

Now, this new track (which could easily shift again, so it's not like I'm exhaling) means that while we're still going to get whacked, this area may end up getting hit harder than the Cape. As such, tomorrow is all about making sure I'm secure in these parts and buttoning this house up tighter than a drum. Hopefully knowing I'm ready for the storm here will push it even farther west. Sorry, New York - but if it's either going to be you or me, I think you know which one I'm hoping gets spared.