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I was just bragging about the dead calm out there in wettitude and then there was the godlike sound of a monster airplane flying over that brought wind gusts behind it. This has only been in the last half hour and already a couple of blasts have made my house crackle. The birds quieted down considerably.
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that power outages are much more likely in wind storms than rain storms... and even more likely in wind storms that come directly after rain storms. Not just branches being blown off trees and onto power lines, but whole trees being blown over because their roots are too suddenly drowning and not holding as well. If the tap root is not really seriously healthy, shit happens.
You saw those Matthew images of trees keeling over. Snapped their taproots right at the very top.
Anyway, hunnert mile an hour winds are not that rare up here, but luckily rare enough I don't have to deal with the dread and irk very often. I think the last time it got really miserable was about five years ago and was later into the rainy season than this. We'd had lots of tropical storms first and the trees were sitting in better saturated soils.
Whatever.
Maybe the Coast Guard will come rescue me and set me up with my own cozy lighthouse or something.
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Looks like my dining choices are going to be eggs or powdered mashed potatoes for the next couple days and soon the coffee will have to be black as well. I'm not thrilled, but it's better than going out in this shit. Maybe Sunday it will lighten up enough to go get some meat and dairy.
Probably just as well because big power outages have a habit of only happening right after I've just done a huge grocery haul with sale food to freeze. This is very rare because I'm not kidding about how poor I am... and this fucking storm system is already probably mostly due to my idea to stock up like that on my credit card to avoid too many trips to town and to have some choices about what to eat for a change.
I'm like Old Uncle Dave. I have the power. And it ain't the good kind.
Murphy is obviously godparent to us both.
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Latest is Newton P. Drury is closed for the whole weekend. Tree down across roadway.
That means, almost certainly, BIIIIIG tree down across roadway.
Not safe in this wind anyway.
That does mean, though, I'm cut off for an emergency drive south, because if I can't take that road it will force me up over the mountain pass on the 101 bypass of the parks. Even though it's a big new road, its dangerous as fuck in the winter storms, even if it isn't snowing up there. My best plan, if something ugly happens here is to go for a motel room in Brookings.
I'll bag up what I can and stuff it in my car and come back next weak with a match.
always and any time....
