Come On Irene

This will be short and sweet...

OK - It's rather simple. There is a potentially devastating hurricane heading towards the Eastern U.S. Just a couple of days ago an earthquake hit in two places in the U.S. - Virginia and Colorado.
So by now you really should have done your homework and should know what to do but just in case...
First go to www.ready.gov and find the disaster of your choice (hurricane, flood, tornado, etc.) Actually first check to be sure you have an Emergency Supply Kit ready. You may have all or most of the items in your home already. (For example - I have sleep apnea and have to use distilled water in the humidifier. I always keep about 10 gallons around because it does go on sale once in a while and just resupplied - s0 I have water.)
Then go here: http://blog.fema.gov/2011/08/irene-update-4-those-along-east-coast.html - Find your state, open the website and Facebook/Twitter pages if applicable. Bookmark them. Bookmark them again on your phone. (Most phones - even if not smartphones have some internet capability which you can use even without a plan.)
(For those of you not in the Eastern U.S. you can find your local Emergency Management organizations by doing an internet search. A lot of this information is actually usable globally.) Also find out the locations of local shelters and, if your family could be separated, plan where you will meet or who the contact person will be that is out of the area affected.
Most of this is logical but in an emergency we tend to forget this stuff.
I should have put this together at an earlier date for posting but it kept sliding to the back burner.
Right now we are in the middle of a nasty thunderstorm and the power may go out so I'm going to log off and shut everything down.
Good luck everyone. 

CATCHING UP PART II

Well it’s been a while. Summer is here and in full swing and, as a result, some things fell by the wayside. Writing was one of them because after all I’d rather be enjoying nature and fresh air instead of sitting at the computer. (And yes I know I could take the computer or some paper and a pen/pencil with me and, in theory, write while outside but it really isn’t the same. I do have my writing routine of sorts and like to stick to that when I write.)

Combined with Mom’s Doctor appointments and Physical Therapy along with all the lovely events that take place up here during the summer time is the one commodity in very short supply! (See my post from May 29^th: THE TOURISTS ARE COMING! THE TOURISTS ARE COMING! for a list of just some of the events that happen up here during the summer.

Anyway – I have been enjoying my garden and have added some additional perennials to it including 4 Hibiscus and 3 peonies. Come winter I will protect them because sometimes it can get right to the lower tolerable level of coldness for them. An arborist told me that it is a good idea to protect perennials for the first two winters anyway in order to allow them to get proper root depth.

What else have I been up to?

Well – in addition to the ongoing clean up and sorting of stuff in the house I’ve had company. My friend David from New Jersey has been up a few times to help with the sorting and moving along with my buddy Chuck and 2 of his daughters. (The girls are 6 and 8 and like to visit with my Mom or watch DVDs.) We’ve also done “stuff.” David has seen a bit of the area and seems to really like it.

A few weeks ago I drove into Boston with Chuck and his 2 daughters for the day. (We had to pick up my car which my niece had borrowed for a couple of weeks for personal reasons.) We drove around a bit and had dinner at a place called James’s Gate Restaurant and Pub with my niece and her boyfriend.  The little ones had a great time.

My college buddy (also named David) showed up for a few days as well. We drove around and tried a few restaurants that I hadn’t been to in a long time – one of which I won’t go back to as it has really gone downhill. 

We took Mom up to Williamstown one day so she could see the Pissarro’s People exhibition at the Clark.  

That was all Mom could handle so I stayed with her while David roamed the permanent collection as well. 

 On the way home we stopped briefly at my friend Louise’s home which is also a Bed and Breakfast called Berkshire Shirakaba just to admire the view. 

Mom and I have had dinner with friends a few times but during the summer it does get a bit difficult sometimes what with all the tourists. Funny thing about restaurants – their capacity does not expand when they get busy!

So I just wanted to give you all a quick update and this is it but there is more to come!

What are you up to this summer?