Eerie Day

It’s early Friday morning, 2 days before the hurricane hits. I didn’t really set much store by the old cliche “The calm before the storm”, but I believe I’m in it now. Coming downstairs at 6 am, there was an eeriness to the air that felt abnormal. No cars going up and down the main road, no early morning runners, no landscaping or garbage trucks squeaking through our side streets with the incessant beeping of their back up alert, and a certain heavy pressure to the outside air, making me want to immediately open the doors and windows. I hurried to turn on the tv in an attempt to restore normalcy back to the morning.

As I sit here with my tea watching the hurricane coverage, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are being evacuated. Ferries will be shut down on Sunday morning. The Cape is under a hurricane watch, but they are now saying the cape will be spared the worst of it. Bridges will be shut down when winds reach 70 mph. Power loss for up to a week is possible and should be planned for. Thank God my husband bought the last generator in NY state yesterday, and fought for the floor model at that.

It’s now 6:42 and the world outside my window still hasn’t woken up yet. Highly unusual. It feels as if everyone left during the night and I didn’t know it. Such a strange beginning to my day. My day. After yoga, I will spend the day hauling in everything save the grass.

7:15 and the paper flopped on my driveway and a jogger ran by. Oh thank goodness there wasn’t a mass evacuation while I was sleeping. Finally on the way to yoga class, cars and people began to appear, but the eerie calmness was still in the air. Even now, after noontime, sitting down with lunch and storm updates, the noise my tv makes almost seems to disturb the extreme quiet covering the neighborhood. Where are all the delivery trucks and beach traffic? Obviously people are otherwise engaged in storm prep.

After exercising and running, I ended up on the beach at low tide. Maybe 15 people out there – highly unusual for a perfect August Friday afternoon. The air, even on the beach, held that eerie stillness as if warning of that which is just off shore, heading this way. Walking back home, the beach road, normally crammed with parked cars and traffic, was deserted. All the cottagers left a day early. One car passed me on my way back.

Returned home just in time for the five o’clock news to see that the hurricane watch has now been upgraded to a hurricane warning. That only meant one thing – back to the store – more wine. I can live without power.

6 pm – finishing this post out in the garage, which I just got done rearranging, ready to remove the screens and put my car in it. The air is still heavy with humidity, and not a leaf is moving. Such stillness here feels very strange. Soon my husband will be here and we will hook up the generator and continue to batten down the hatches. (The fridge that holds the wine will be the first thing plugged in.)

And so, as another day goes by, Irene missed a gorgeous beach day – I fear the weather isn’t going be very good when she visits me Sunday, and….I have written.
Photo: beach today….hurricane? Really?

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