I tried to post this earlier in response to MareCat's report of
surviving Rita relatively unscathed. Don't know if it ever got out
there into the ether. I never saw it, anyway.

[begin quote]

That's good news. It's rolling in here (65 miles ENE of Dallas) right
now. Blustery winds from the NE. Wind chimes working overtime.
Sprinkles. Fast moving, dark clouds. I bought two "Swiss Army Lamps"
yesterday against the liklihood of losing power. Tanked up the second
propane bottle, too. There are no D cell batteries left for sale in
Cow Hill.

My mom called this morning from Baton Rouge. She said they lost power
overnight, but it came back on around 8 this morning. She also said
they had torrential rain. She didn't know how much because the rain
gauge in the yard filled up and it rained still more after that.

OBFood: Today is the Bois d'Arc Bash here in Cow Hill
http://www.commerce-chamber.com/boisdarcNew.htm
D and I popped in at the festivities to get a corny dog. Yum. Some
of my students were selling pots and mugs. One invited us all to a
"slurricane party" tonight at his place. Don't think I'll make it.

[end quote]

The rain came down pretty fiercely for most of the afternoon. The
wind steadily strengthened most of the afternoon and shifted around to
the north as the storm moved up this way. We've had some surprisingly
big gusts, too. The yard is littered with small-to-medium branches.
No trees down so far, and I don't really expect any to fall. The
power flickered a few times and a transformer out back in the alley
popped and arced several times, adding a bit of menace to the
spectacle. So far it's all safe and snug chez modom. We'll probably
not need the "Swiss Army Lamps" I bought, but that's why I bought
them, I suppose. The Bois d'Arc Bash got shut down, natch.

We're hundreds of miles from the Gulf, but Rita still has enough
muscle to knock things around out there. And we're on her west side.
Pretty far from the real action. It must have been horrible last
night on the coast.

OBFood: I've been hungry all day. The last snack was a piece of
cheese toast with minced jalapeno and garlic. Shoulda made two
pieces.

modom