Chilly November.

BRRRRRRR!! As predicted, La Nina has made our November weather colder and wetter than normal. But it also was unpredictable, in that we just had a very windy few days with one storm system after another coming in off the Pacific and slamming into us.

We had two days of winds over 61 MPH, and trees down, power lines down, lights off, and WET! The rain hit first, pounding down like hail stones, but it was only rain. Then the winds hit. I was driving home in the worst of it, and just as I left Oak Harbor, the lights went out. It is odd driving in the dark, when you know there are homes and businesses out there in the void. As I left city limits, and headed on down the island, the wind buffeted the car around like a toy. It was blowing me into the oncoming lane. Thank Goodness I was driving slow enough to correct with out flipping the car. There was a car right behind me that was tailgating like he was getting ready to pass, when I whipped into the other lane, and the wind hit him too. He backed way off, slowed down and behaved himself the rest of the way.

As I got into Coupeville, all of the lights there were on. So I drove through the only stoplight in town, and headed on down island. I was approaching a very narrow part of the highway, and there were trees right up to the fog lines on both sides of the road, so I slowed way down, expecting a tree to be down across the road. I rounded a curve and right there was every emergency vehicle in the town of Coupeville, all cleaning up the mess of branches and trees right where I knew they would be. I was waved on through, over the branches, and around the trees, and then on down the road. I was all hunkered down, with my head down below the steering wheel, thinking that if a tree did hit me, maybe I could duck down and be safe.

It was pretty dicey driving the rest of the way home, and there were several more trees down and power lines hanging. I made it the 20 miles home, and pulled into my driveway just in time for the latest gust of wind to take out the power in my neighborhood. I grabbed the flashlight, left my headlights on, and went on in the house, put every thing down, then closed and locked the car, and the front door.

In Our part of the country, you learn to live with emergency supplies as part of the decorations in your livingroom. Hanging from the ceiling right over one of the end tables, was a Coleman Gas lantern, so I grabbed, it, the matches and the flashlight and headed for the bedroom. I lit the lamp, and crawled under the covers, and read a book.

The next morning, When I woke up, the lights were back on, so I put the lantern back on the hook, and brought in two loads of wood, and waited for the next round. It hit the next day, with winds just as bad, but no power outages, and I stayed home.

Tonight we are waiting for the temperature to fall below freezing and stay there for a few days. Snow is predicted in some places, but we hardly ever get it. My Son called last night, to tell me that in Lynden where he lives, about 5 miles from the Canadian border, that the wind was blowing really hard and the snow was blowing sideways. The news/weather man had just showed his town under blizzard conditions!

Novembers here are usually like most of you have Octobers. Chilly, but not extreme, and our cold weather waits until January or February. Tonight I am laying here under the blankets, looking out at the woods at an almost full bright moon showing through the branches of the alders. It is still, and crisp, and the temps are falling. right now the thermometer in my window is registering 35 degree F. so I know it must be about 30. The weather teasers on the TV just said that the temperatures are plummeting, and low land snow is expected tonight. We shall see.
I need to get a turkey up to Tim's house some time really soon, so that they can enjoy their first Thanksgiving as a family. They are safe, and for the moment, warm, and the baby is fine, and they will all remember this.

Phyllis and I grew up here and look forward to the excitement that stormy weather brings us. We have all the right emergency equipment on hand, and can survive for several weeks. It is just another thing to keep boredom at bay. WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!