FINAL UPDATE AT END. Finished my hurricane preparation - and I'm six hours from a beach! We are expecting ten's of inches of rain and winds up to 60 mph, so I've given four days to picking up all the limbs and pine cones in my yard. So, it's clean till the wind starts and then there will be a new culling! Fall is always a work intensive time in my yard - too many old trees. The human nature stories are beginning to pour in from the storm. Some people had evacuated to a town near me and a little boy paid for their lunch today. That was so awesome. Someone's been doing some good parenting. Also, the local high school football teams are offering free admission to their games with a Florida I.D. (like a driver's license or whatever), so families can have a little fun while waiting on the storm. Sometimes stress brings out the best in people.<br /><br />

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Monday afternoon, power is browning, so I'm signing out before I'm on battery. Lost one huge limb so far, but rain quite moderate and supposed to be over by late evening - I'm hoping.
Tuesday morning, all calm except for some very confused birds from the beaches who got caught up in the winds. All is well here. Just lost the one big limb that I can see so far, and lots of little trashy stuff. Still dripping rain. A year ago it was 97 Fahrenheit; this morning it is a brisk 57! Unreal for here in September. Oh, one big prayer answered. Older son has been in Houston delivering roll-offs (dumpsters) all over town. The company has now sent him on to Denver to replace their best driver who was also sent to Houston. So, he's still in a hotel without clean clothes or a suitcase, but out of the infestation of Houston for now. He says Denver is awesome.