Hurricane? What hurricane?
What a difference a day makes. My state is devastated --- major interstate highways washed completely away, houses washed away, power outages everywhere. We ourselves are fine, I should hasten to say. We seem to live in a lucky area where the power almost never goes out, and our life is completely normal on this side of the storm.
Walking the dog last night before bed, we saw that the block down from us --- just behind that white-columned house that forms my daily view --- was completely dark, but all around that one block, lights were on. In our immediate neighborhood, no major trees are down, but I guess they are down in lots of places. The county has opened an emergency shelter. My husband said, when he went to the supermarket yesterday afternoon, that they were taking only cash, because their card system was down, but the ATM he went to worked just fine. Overall, though, I think our county came off lightly. We're in the Piedmont, not the mountains, and we got a lot less rain. They're opening dam gates on our rivers, however, such as the Catawba --- all of which are downstream from all the mountain rivers and creeks --- to try to drain away the water from flooded areas, and that will mean, obviously, a lot more water coming our way (managed, one hopes).
Checking on various friends in the country and in the mountains.
Meanwhile, in less anxious news . . .
I made a version of this chickpea recipe for supper last night. My variations included using real dairy instead of vegan alternatives, subbing fresh grape tomatoes for sun-dried, and including about a cup of diced fresh peppers (bell and cayenne) from the garden, for a little more dimension and bite in the cream sauce. It was delicious; I'm eating leftovers right now for brunch.
Wearing (from various angles):
*Secondhand Not Perfect Linen Leila dress (M/L) in Chocolate Brown, bought December 2023, last worn September 14. Total wears this year to date: 15, I think.
*Secondhand Birkenstock Mayaris, bought in April, worn constantly.
Half-dry hair. I feel a little more trivial than usual today, banging on about my clothes, but maybe also a little more than usually grateful that I don't actually have more pressing things to worry about. I am more than usually grateful for my house and all the things in it, and for electricity and running water and general normalcy.
And I do love this dress and am grateful for it. Today's high is only about 80F, but after all the rain, the air feels sultry and heavy. This wasn't the kind of storm that blew out all the humidity to leave everything fresh. It's all just wet. So it's nice to put on a sleeveless, breathable, comfortable dress to go about my daily business --- for which, again, I am grateful.
About to go do some laundry, because I can.