We put up the last plywood a few minutes ago–the wind is finally starting to pick up. I debated buying the Game Plan on DirecTV so I could watch the Michigan Big Ten opener against Iowa, but I didn’t really want to gamble the twenty bucks when we could lose either power or satellite signal at any time.

The forecast hasn’t changed much since this morning–it’s still headed north of us. I don’t expect any more surge than Frances caused, and the house stayed dry inside the last time. This will be the first time we’ve ridden one out here, and I expect a noisy night. I’m sure that the shutters and plywood will make a racket like they’re about to come off and take the walls off with them, but seeing how they performed with a similar storm only two weeks ago (exactly two weeks ago) will provide us with the confidence to stick it out.

At this point, at least, we’re feeling very lucky, and feeling very bad about those north of us. On the other hand, at least they didn’t waste a lot of money rebuilding from Frances–they didn’t have time.

We’re just starting to see the first outer rain bands of the storm now. No significant wind yet.

The good news (at least for us, though not for St. Lucie and Indian River Counties) is that, like Frances, it’s hitting north of us, so we shouldn’t have to worry about storm surge here. The other good news is that it’s moving much faster, so the agony won’t be prolonged as it was with Frances. The bad news is that it’s now Cat 3, with a possibility of intensification to Cat 4 prior to landfall, sometime later this evening or early Sunday morning. It’s grown considerably, and it now has a huge (45 miles) eye width, with a hurricane-force wind radius of seventy miles. Whatever Frances didn’t take care of, Jeanne will finish off.

We’ve got both cars, and everything that’s not mortared down, into the garage, and just one last bit of plywood will seal us in for the afternoon and night. The winds will probably start to pick up this afternoon, intensifying from tropical force to hurricane into the evening. If it follows the predicted path, we’ll be on the southern edge of the hurricane-force winds, and they’ll probably last several hours.

We still have power, but I’ll be surprised (and thrilled) if we keep it until midnight. I’ll keep checking in when I can.

The shutters and plywood are back up, except for one patio door that lets us get out to the grill and pool. We’ll cover it tomorrow, as the winds start to develop.

But there’s no wind tonight, and a three-quarter moon, waning. The temperature is pleasant. There’s no hint that there’s a monster lurking three hundred miles away, preparing to wreak havoc on us (or more hopefully, at least for us, those north of us) on the morrow.

The winds should pick up in the morning, and we’ll have to check the storm track to see if it’s going to continue on its present path toward the counties north of us, including the Cape, or take a bad (again, for us) turn toward us, in which case we’ll have to decide whether to stay or run from the flood waters. The winds don’t concern us per se, but we don’t want to have to be in a position in which we’re seeking higher ground within the house, and running out, with the only alternative to get outside in hundred-knot winds.

For now, the forecast is encouraging for us (and proportionately discouraging for those north of us, who also took the brunt of Frances only two scant weeks ago). All the good wishes that you’ve sent to me, broadcast now to them. Unless, of course, the storm whimsically changes course yet again.

And perhaps the weekend, depending on the whims of Jeanne.

Hey, if it’s a weekend in southeast Florida, it must be time for a hurricane!

It looks very much like we’ll have to put the storm shutters and plywood back up, and prepare for a whole lot of shakin’, rain and wind goin’ on sometime in the next forty-eight hours. We filled the cars last night–the lines weren’t bad, but the Mobil I went to was already out of regular (didn’t matter, since the Bimmer takes high-test, though I cheat and only give it 89 octane, with nary a knock).

Off to the store this morning to get the last scraps of food, amidst the panicked hordes. We’re actually not in bad shape, since we restocked after Frances in anticipation of Ivan, who on his long excursion seems to have obligingly hit everyone in the southeast except us, and so we still have supplies on hand. We even still have a few bags of ice in the garage freezer. The main thing is perishables (I’d like to pick up a frozen roast and chicken, which serve as ice-chest coolers until they thaw, after which they can be thrown on the grill).

I’ve decided that this is one more reason to be unhappy with Florida living (not that I didn’t already have enough), but it probably is unusual.

I hope. I do know that I’m starting to get stressed out from hurricane fatigue.