If there is any good thing to say about the changing weather it is that it comes as a relief from the searing ninety degree heat of the last few days. This morning we woke to cooler temperatures, but the humidity rose with the sun, and then the first of the clouds arrived.
Here on the far end of Long Island, New York, we are all waiting for Hurricane Earl to psss by to the east. Spared a direct hit by what is currently a Category Two hurricane we still expect to be blasted by tropical storm weather during the next twelve hours. All weather reports, hosted by groomed studio presenters interspersed by camera shots of reporters standing on windswept beaches shouting about storm surges and rip tides, agree that winds will blow up to sixty five miles per hour, and that rain will be heavy.
The waves are certainly huge, and will increase in size as the storm approaches. I stood for a few minutes on Bridgehampton beach and could feel the vibrations as nine feet tall shorebreakers pounded the sand.
On the floor of my garage is a small pile of goods in readiness for the worst. Our main worry is not flooding or rain but loss of electrical power. That's what all flashlights have been tested. Three cases of water, because our well pump is electric; matches and candles; propane cylinders to power the barbeques; an old fashioned phone that plugs directly into the network (cordless phones being useless, of course) and a radio.
We've already moved garden furniture to a safe place, and taken down the hammock. It feels like the end of summer, but it's not! Let's se what Earl brings ...
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