Stormy Doings . . .

Damn! I’m heading over to Vancouver this morning, but right now I’m a bit afraid even to pop my head out the door! Indeed, I opened the oceanfront door to grab the cat’s dish and almost couldn’t get it closed again — it is seriously blowing out there. A Southeasterly. 60 to 80 kmh!

Cones and twigs, sometimes whole branches, pelt the roof, a deck chair just went skittering across the balcony outside my bedroom, and the tarp that should be covering the woodpile is straining at its two last ropes while threatening to turn kite on us. I cringe at the clattering on the skylights (we have three!) — a few years ago, a tree crashed through my friend/neighbour’s bathroom skylight during such a storm in a scene much too close to my imagination’s conjuring. I’m writing this on my netbook in bed, and occasionally can feel the wall behind the headboard shaking — impressive display!

And there are huge white-capped waves rolling big logs onto the beach — high tide compounds the effect, of course. It’s going to be quite a ferry ride, one for keeping eyes fastened on the horizon rather than for reading. One to remind me of the trip with my grandparents several decades ago, Pater and I taking them to visit my uncle, and poor Grandpa kept complaining that something was wrong with his legs, not realizing that it was the boat’s rolling that made his walking so unsteady.

I’m motivated to be in Vancouver, so will brave the weather. Plus I have a housesitter making her way here later today — an acquaintance looking for a quiet place to get some thesis-writing done. So curling up on my own here ’til the storm dies down is not an option. Instead, I’d better go shower and get the bed linens washed while the power is still on — always a chance we’ll lose it in these conditions, and I do love my hot water!

Wow! As I write, the house is shuddering with the wind — I cannot imagine what it must have been like for my friend Alison last year on a sailboat with her husband Kim in any kind of storm at all. Not my cup of tea! Speaking of which, I’ve just finished mine and really had better get packed and out of here. Let’s hope all the rest of the weekend’s drama is good drama!