When the Homily is about Immunology

Batten down the hatches

Last night began the proverbial "calm before the storm." I took advantage of the nice evening weather to stock up on firewood in the house and to hack a good deal of kindling - preparations for the next evening when I will be much less inclined to collect from the swaying tree surrounded woodshed.

As I hauled the two wheelbarrows full of wood back to the house I noticed the sky filled with stars, and a meteor streaked brilliantly across the black sky. I recalled that we were right about at the peak of the Leonid shower and so I called the girls out to watch with me for awhile and I gave them an impromptu astronomy lesson.

I filled a couple of buckets with water and made sure the portable power supply was fully charged. This morning confirmed that the storm was continuing to track its center to pass over Forks, WA and then across Vancouver Island, which means that we can expect to get hammered with very high winds. Thus the NWS changed our "high wind watch" to a "high wind warning" around 4 am this morning. The flags are expected to start stretching around 2pm today.

A rough ride across the sound (at what point will they cancel service?), a precarious bus trip over Agate Passage (a giant wind tunnel - at what point will they close the bridge?)), and nature's green skyscrapers (often felled by much lesser winds) are what awaits me this afternoon and evening. I would be completely surprised if we do not lose power - perhaps for days even, and we will likely lose even more trees - hopefully none that will do damage to the house or outbuildings. "They" are saying this could be on par with the notorious "Inaugural Day Windstorm Storm" that had my downtown Bellevue rental house out of power for 5 days. Sustained winds of 45mph with gusts to 65mph are predicted for the Seattle Area, outlying areas will likely be worse (in our neck of the woods they are saying 75mph gusts) and exposed or coastal areas could see 90mph gusts.

While I like it when weather overrules our schedules and plans, this however could be very dangerous. At the very least, our winterly challenges continue - record rain, snow, and powerful winds...what's next?