After Isaac

Isaac has finally left our area (it is now bedeviling the poor residents of Arkansas), but it made quite an impact on "the landmass" before it left.

Yes, this is the ACTUAL tornado watch box that was in effect all day yesterday, stretching hundreds of miles inland from LA to FL.

Some residents in our area are likely to be without power for several days, and flooding is still a concern throughout the state.  There is no telling right know how bad the damage was right down on the coast, but it looks pretty awful.  Miraculously, my own home never lost power, and even though my workplace seems to have had a few short outages overnight the other night, we had full power for the workday, so we more or less carried on as normal.  My little redbuds look a bit raggedy, but made it through, as did the figlet (hooray!) and my other plants.

The most shocking survival is the fact that the magnolia tree just next door made it through the storm.  To understand why this is such a shock, you should first have a look at a healthy magnolia tree:

Notice the luxurious, thick growth of healthy, dark-green leaves.  Magnolias are much-loved, of course, because they produce beautiful, creamy flowers all over, just about the whole warm season:

Now take a look at the tree next door. It looks slightly different than that first image.....

I have no earthly idea what ails that poor tree, but so far nothing has been able to finish the poor thing off and put it out of its misery.  My one colleague (readers may remember him as Super Sociable Guy) dubbed this tree "the Charlie Brown magnolia" for its resemblance to, well, this:

I think the analogy is fitting, don't you?

Note for those who don't get the "landmass" reference:  When the path of Isaac had yet to be determined, there was evidently a commentator on The Weather Channel who discussed a possible hit on Mobile, and a possible hit on New Orleans, and in the process dismissively referred to the territory in between (also known as Mississippi) as "the landmass in the middle".  This on the near-anniversary of Katrina, no less, which was devastating to the MS Gulf Coast.  The indignation on Facebook was epic.

Too Many Eyes

My recent adventures have included my flurry of anual checkups, not the least of which was my eye exam which yielded a new prescription for me to adjust to, which has of course been fun.

However, everybody's attention has been on another eye--or should we say "I" for Isaac? The storm (whose own eye, coincidentally, could be seen today when it formally reached Hurricane status) has just made landfall and is preparing to churn inland bringing wind and rain.

Even though we are reasonably inland where I live, we could still get a fair dose of the wind-and-rain, though our biggest risk would be widespread power outage, rather than serious structural damage or flooding.  Still, the roof repair folks (remember them?  They're still working on our roof from months ago.) were scurrying around frantically the last couple of days.  They were pretty close to done before now, as soon as I can tell, but obviously they wanted to be sure to put on some finishing touches before their work is put to the test.  

Meanwhile, the local schools have been closed both of the next few days, which I definitely think is panicking in advance of the need, but maybe that's just me.  I've done what sensible things I could--filled up the car, brought in a few loose items from my back porch, and drew a little cash.  This evening, I decided to go ahead and pick up some bread and peanut butter in case of widespread outage (no power = no cooking) and a jug of water, since while at lunch we started hearing rumors of runs on these items.  I am glad that I filled up the car, too, as memories of Katrina, fears of power outages (which would also mean no working pumps), and fears of a run on gasoline...have prompted just such a run on gasoline.  Sigh.

Luckily, the little car has plenty to get me through a normal week, and right now I'm thinking that the anticipation is likely to be rather worse than the reality of what makes it to our area.  All I know is, the kitties are snug, I'll keep an eye on things, and I've had enough for now of things that sound like "eye".  

Catching a Breath

Well, it has been a while, but it has been quite a hectic few weeks at work, though we've been very productive and gotten a lot of good stuff done.  In what free time I have I've been unwinding by reading books, which was also a nice way to stay occupied during travel on a recent business trip.  As some might have read via Facebook, we (two colleagues and I) traveled to Pittsburgh, PA to visit with some academic collaborators at Carnegie Mellon University.  The meeting was a good one, and the whole trip went very smoothly with no travel delays or lost bags.  We didn't have time to tour around, but we had a great dinner at Monterey Bay, which had this spectacular view (which many of you have also probably seen on FB by now):

The whole trip was also a nice break from the heat.  We haven't had it nearly as bad as some places (Arkansas, for example) but it hasn't exactly been pleasant.  The poor cats haven't had outside playtime in quite a while, and there were two very unpleasant episodes where the (it turns out) faulty wiring of my AC system caused it to temporarily cease functioning and necessitated an emergency, after-hours visit from a repairman.  Friday, we got the problem properly fixed (Leo-kitty helped, of course).  So, all is well now and we're even getting a bit of a break after a front came through.

Unfortunately, between travel and heat, it is too late for most of the stuff in the planter basket, but the portulaca and irises in the flower beds are fine, and the Figlet is still doing well.  The kitties actually got some outside-time today which they liked, and I am proud of myself for getting in a half-hour of cardio this morning and earlier in the week between workouts with Trainer Guy.  I still have some errands to run (got a late start today, and the grocery store was going to be too crowded, so I'm thinking this evening or even tomorrow would be a better bet).

As for the rest of today, I'm personally enjoying a generally quiet time, even though it is sort of a Big Day on two counts:  we finally heard about Romney's VP pic (I will not go on a political rant, I will not go on a political rant, I will not go on a political rant...) and, far more importantly, it is Mom and Dad's anniversary.

So, much, much love to Mom and Dad and I'm hoping they have a great day!