A Blustering Day

The southern wind
Doth play the trumpet to his purposes,
And by his hollow whistling in the leaves
Foretells a tempest and a blustering day.
(1 Henry IV, 5.1)

We woke this morning to a blustering day. Hurricane Irene is headed our way. On our 7am grocery trip we found the batteries and flash lights were sold out and most of the bottled water. I've heard the rain is supposed to begin around noon.

On Wednesday we had a 5.8 earthquake. I had the interesting experience of hearing about it before it happened. I was on a conference call with my work. The office is located in Charlottesville which was about a hundred miles closer to the epicenter. They started shaking about 30 seconds before DC. I was grateful for the forewarning because it made me certain it was an earthquake instead of a bomb. We had a few things fall off shelves. Most notably my box of postcards. Here's a scene of the damage.

In between disasters we've been having fun. We played in puddles. Miriam turned 13 months and chipped her front tooth when she snuck into the bathroom and crawled-fell into the tub.

We rode the carousel at a nearby park that I have memories of going to as a kid.

Reuben took his zebra ride very seriously.