Random Thoughts During Hurricane Sandy

In no particular order, things that have occurred to me today as Hurricane Sandy begins its slow march westward towards shore:

• It's 5pm and it has passed that indistinct line between being "breezy" outside and being "windy." They promise wind gusts up to 70mph later.  Right now it alternates between fairly calm and then gusty.
• Sarah, Mary, and to a lesser extent I, have spent the day, while we still have power, absorbing all we can: TVs, Amazon Prime movies through the Xbox, laptops, Internet, the whole thing.  David has been napping much of the afternoon.  I wonder how awake he'll be overnight, and if we've lost power, how he'll cope without being able to play Call of Duty.
• I swear, I really did clear the lawn this weekend.  You just can't tell now from the leaves all over the place.
• They promise up to 10" of rain.  If so, it's coming very slowly: the sump pump hasn't even filled once yet, and rainwise, it's been just a steady light rain or drizzle all day.
• I know there's something I'm forgetting by way of making the house ready for wind, rain, and storm.  I just can't think of what it is.
• At lunch with Glenn at the Glory Days in Lorton today, the power flickered three times.  While I was on the phone with David's orthodontist's office, they mentioned the power flickered.  We haven't seen that here at the house yet, knock wood.
• Solar lights on little hook-stands along the walkway could make pretty annoying projectiles in a 70mph wind.  Better get those inside.
• If the storm blows the last few tomatoes off the vines out back, (a) will the squirrels even notice, and (b) can I finally pull those vines out and get the porch ready for winter?
• I keep watching the Bradford pear out by the family room, waiting for it to go down.  Oh please oh please oh please.  (But only gently, and not towards the houses.)
• Winds should be coming predominantly out of the north or northeast.  So the tree between us and the O'Mara's might be at the most risk, but the windbreak his house provides might help.
• I remember the wind keeping me awake when Isabel came through in 2003.  I expect to be kept awake tonight too.  Both times it'll be thinking about what damage we're going to find in the morning.  Neither time will I be able to actually do anything about it.
• They've closed the government for Tuesday, and of course the schools were closed for then as far ago as yesterday.  I think it's an even bet as to whether it will open on Wednesday; at the least it will be "unscheduled leave" in effect.