Hurricane Irene

hey robert. thanks for the kindness. all week long, we are following the guesses. weatherman aren’t ever right, but if they get it this time, the path for sunday morning is literally right down the driveway. we have been putting everything a hundred pounds or less in the barn, but there isn’t any saying the barn will still be there. up here its wind to the east and water to the west of the hurricanes, both when it jumps in your lap. cross your fingers and talk to ya later. mitch

Thanks guys,
We are expecting to run the generator a bit and to have some repairs to do on Monday when it is bright and shiny. Our major concerns are that the greenhouses and coverall building are still in one piece and that the corn doesn’t go down. High corn prices are bad enough, but when you have acres of it waiting to be chopped and picked seeing it lodged and down with animals waiting to be fed, it may get a little ugly around here. My thoughts are with those south of us and on the coast, batten the hatches its going to be one heck of a time.

Our Governor is saying there is a chance for 10″ of rain here in VT on Sunday into Monday. I don’t really want to see that, but this I gotta see.

http://maps.wunderground.com/data/640×480/ne_ir_anim.gif

Carl

Trying to find the positive in such a storm.

This evening I was up on the hill over looking the farm where we have all of our tomatoes. I was busy adding a couple more strings to the tomato trellises when the first band of Irene approached. It was just a dark line across the southern sky, and the contrast with the sun trying to burn through an overcast sky on the hill was magical. The Grafton Hills to the south were dark masses with sun dappled forests in the foreground. The air was very still, birds gathered in flocks centered around the lone oak in the hay field below me and the storm literally rumbled closer. Sheets of rain eventually consumed the hills and blanketed them with a grayish white. Even when the breeze hit I did not rush, sure that I would finish in time. I was even able to harvest a few heirlooms that had ripened in the last 24 hours since our Friday harvest. With hardly a front end left in our field vehicle I slowly descended our hill to meet the wall of rain in our little Pine Valley.

I enjoy watching the the weather radar, but when something with such magnitude approaches me, I like to watch it in person on a high spot and take it all in.

She is a beauty, but will be more beautiful once she is done and gone.

Raining steadily since midnight here. Eerily calm… not a breath of wind. Still wondering what to do. I feel like I won’t really kick into action until I see what I have to clean up….

Off-grid here, so we should be able to continue to function. It is such a guessing game to see how much wind and/or rain we will actually get. The eye is supposed to pass about 60 miles east of here by 5pm. I’m hoping land-fall will take the guts out of her, but they predict she will still be a Cat 1 by the time she hits VT.

More later, Carl

Not to bad here yet, the horses are still out. The rain and wind come in short bursts, than it is calm for a bit. We might head out to Pemaquid point light house later and watch the surf. Everyone along the coast here have been pulling their boats out or trying to find a safe harbor. I’ll post some pics later if the surf is really big.
Be safe,
Richard