Happy Hurricane Helene Landfall Day to those who celebrate. For my own part, I am celebrating still having power at this moment. The lights have blinked a few times, but SO FAR they're still on, and the pump is pumping away in the basement.
Floods of rain. We are in fact under a flash-flood warning until 2 this afternoon, so "floods" is not just a figure of speech here. Fortunately we live on high ground and not near the river, so the chances of our actually being affected by any flood, other than rain runoff into the basement, is pretty remote. Gusts of high wind, though --- I'm watching the trees across the way whip around, then come to rest, over and over.
I went out with the dog, briefly, swathed in rain gear, for which I was grateful. It was a little scary outside, mostly because of the trees, any of which could fall at any moment. We walked down the drive, in the lee of the houses, and straight across the street, out of line with any large tree, and poked around the side of the community college's main building, which again gave us some shelter, while she dithered about finding just the right place to pee.
Now we're safely back inside. Dora's tucked up again in her crate with her breakfast, while I have another cup of coffee and contemplate the day. I have an essay to revise --- the last one I have to write could wait until next week if it has to, since it won't go up till next Thursday. The one I need to revise is set for Monday. We'll see how things go today.
I feel tired and woolly-headed after our pub night last night. Our friend Clark (he of the river house) was on his own at home while Christine is traveling for work, so he braved the storm to drive up here from Belmont and meet us for Oktoberfest beer and bratwursts. The poor food-truck guy was not living his best life last night, but his brats were very good. We didn't actually drink all that much, but I had trouble sleeping, possibly because our bedtime tea was caffeinated, and today . . . bleah. I wish I didn't have work to do, but I do.
Today's outfit(s), as dictated by weather:
First, the indoor/base outfit, shown here in terrible lighting because it's too dark outside to take natural-light photos. This light is quite nice in real life, warm and bright, but it does weird things to colors.
*Wool& Maggie dress (S/Long) in Aegean Teal, bought May 2023, last worn September 7. Total wears this year to date: about 18. There might have been a time I wore it under something and it just doesn't show obviously enough in photos for me to have counted it, but that's roughly the tally right now. Not as much as either my Audrey or my NPL Smock dresses, but not too far behind, either.
*Secondhand bamboo-cotton teal-striped leggings, bought sometime in the fall or early winter of 2021, last worn September 9
*Secondhand Birk Mayaris, bought in April, worn as a default, not even keeping count
So, this is my in-the-house cozy ensemble for the day. It's basically pajamas, but more fun.
AND for going outside, here's my hot new look:
I forget what brand these rain pants are. I bought them very cheap off Amazon --- not at all an ethical purchase, lest you were starting to think that I'm some kind of actual purist --- for Norway, where I didn't wear them even once. They pack down nicely into their own little pouch and take up almost no room in my backpack, but although I did carry them on hikes, I never put them on.
Still, I'm glad I have them. They're not as horrifically unflattering as I had feared, although really I'm not going for style here, just staying dry. And for that, I'm happy to report, they do work. My secondhand L.L. Bean Gore-Tex jacket is an excellent waterproof top layer, but I shimmied these pants on before I took the dog out this time around, and my legs stayed perfectly dry as well. Switched out my Birks for Crocs, since they're impervious to water, and I was good to go. Now my waterproof things are drying in the hall, and I'm back in my basic pajama outfit, safe and dry and warm in my office, watching the rain fall.
Today is the memorial of St. Vincent de Paul, a good day to remember, as the saint did, the poor and needy in our midst. In the wake of this storm, more people will be left vulnerable and in need, and it behooves those of us in relative security to remember that, and to look for ways to help.
AFTERNOON UPDATE:
Storm has blown through, leaving a lot of limbs and leaves down, and the town looking pretty battered --- though mostly okay, I think. I haven't walked through the whole neighborhood to see whether there are any felled trees, or trees on houses. Dora and I ventured down the greenway, then turned off and came back through downtown to come home. Power is out in some places --- no traffic lights working in the center of town --- but it all could be a lot worse.
It's also now very swampy out. Not hot, but massively humid. I came home and took off my leggings and am just back in simple summer mode, in my dress and Birks.
Put my hair up, too. I really like my new big 4-prong hair comb. It's handy to have one item that will hold everything more or less in place, but isn't a claw clip.
Saddened by the news of Dame Maggie Smith's passing, as I guess everyone is --- funny how (illusorily) we feel we know these people, as if they had ever been more present to us than their images on film, which we can still access, same as before. I guess it's the knowing that there won't be any more, that that era is done, that in another generation names that meant much to us, in popular or arts culture, won't ring bells for people anymore. I think maybe we don't mourn the person --- whom we didn't know personally anyway --- so much as we mourn the culture they were part of, and helped make, which dies away a little more with each human death.
And of course, these people seem immortal, and they're not, which reminds us how much we, too, are not immortal. If they can die, then so can we, far more quietly, making barely a ripple.
Cheery thoughts, these. I think I'll go think about William Cullen Bryant for a while.