Winds of Change

I'm tossing this picture up (taken on our camping adventure this summer on the Eastern Shore) because I am in denial about the wind whipping outside and the dire prediction of rain (accompanied by flooding) for days on end at a time. They're calling for rain so severe there is already a 2-hour delay for school tomorrow. And thus far nary a drop of rain has fallen.

I decided a long time ago that I would never listen to--or rather count on--a weather forecast again, because nine times out of ten if we just played Spin the Bottle we'd end up on a forecast as reliable as anything the weathermen (or weatherwomen) predicted.

The other night, however, my mother mentioned that Daddy was getting gas for generators because a massive Nor'Easter was blowin' in. This caught my attention.

You see, when local knowledge is combined with modern technology, there's usually a darn good chance that whatever they say is comin', is a' comin'. When the locals start getting nervous, then I start paying attention. (By the way, I'm a local. However, I have not yet learned how to forecast a Nor'Easter using clues from anything other than radio or television.)

Today, a day with no rain, the wind has been so fierce it would knock you over. The tide is so daggone high I will soon be able to do a swan dive out of my back door into 5 feet of water. And I'll have white caps in the back yard. Rain is supposed to start tomorrow.

If you don't hear from me for a while, it's because we've lost current or else I'm drifting over to Cape Charles because we've been deluged by the rain and high tides, which have swept us out to sea.

And if you hear someone screaming, it is Chesapeake Bay Woman suffering from withdrawals from her morning coffee and internet.