Now where were we?

I hadn't intended so long a blog silence. But the summer kept getting stranger as time went on, and now, it's not summer anymore. :(

Hurricane Irene put a big dent in our last week of summer. We live about a mile as the crow flies from the ocean, and when the forecasters put out the warnings, Chris and I cleared the yard of furniture and garden decorations, stocked up on the bottled water and nonperishables, and waited. I even packed an overnight bag and got the cat carriers ready, thinking that if in the last day the storm increased in power, we'd head inland to my parents' house.

We lost power early that Sunday morning, and the wind and rain lashed against the house for hours. I prayed that our dying tree in the back yard would not come through the kitchen wall. And when it was all over, and the rain stopped and the wind died down, we only lost a limb in the front yard, and a different dying tree from the far back woods that landed in our backyard. Our basement stayed miraculously dry. But we were without power and water for four days, and if you've ever experienced not having water to wash your hands or your dishes or yourself, and having to throw out the entire contents of your refrigerator, and not having a place open for miles in which to get a hot meal or even a cup of coffee, you know how stressful that can be.

  Right after the storm, we took a drive along the ocean -- the sea was so angry! Huge brown waves were almost up to the top of the sea wall.

A tree landed on top of one of the shoreline motels. This was a common sight in towns in the area.

Some of our neighbors lost huge trees, and a few landed on houses around town. The houses on the beach were flooded, but a few towns away, about 20 of them were carried out to sea. Neighbors helped neighbors, reporting on the latest CL&P (CT Light and Power Co.) truck sightings, and offering each other what they could. Our town's emergency dept. did a fantastic job of providing everyone the basics: showers, ice, charging stations. And slowly but surely, the power came back, and most of us are returning to some semblance of normalcy. I'm still thrilled every morning when I turn the faucet on in the shower and water comes out!

*****

Suddenly, I realized that our shelter's bike ride fundraiser, Pedal for Paws, is less than a month away. So now I am working on finding more sponsors and getting the posters and publicity out, and Chris is gathering the permits from the towns. If you are nearby and enjoy riding your bike, I hope you'll join us! You can find information here.

*****

Before Irene hit, Chris had a last bike race of the season at Ninigret, and Kristen came out to meet us and watch the race. We didn't knit, but it was so wonderful to catch up with her. I hope as the cooler weather comes to spend more time knitting with friends!

What are your fall plans, knitting or cycling or otherwise? What do you think of the new patterns out?