Waiting For Irene

It’s odd. You get to a point, when you are waiting for a hurricane, where time starts to move slowly.

There’s the build up that often lasts for days, where each day seems more like five in terms of what happens, while the reports on intensity and direction change from hour to hour. In the morning, you hear your area will likely be hit, then by lunchtime, they’re saying the path is moving away from you a little. Then, by nightfall, sometimes the path is moving even further away from you. Other times, you find out it has moved back in your direction.

And then, in the end, you are left with the moments before the storm. Suddenly, everything seems slow. Part of you wants it to stay slow, forever, as if, if you just willed time to stand still, you’d stay in the day before the storm forever, and life wouldn’t change. Words are weak in their ability to describe how fiercely I feel this way right now.

But another part of you wants to speed it up, to just get it over with, to move out of this world of waiting, where so much of what you love hangs suspended before you, its future uncertain.

Back here in “Marshland,” I thought I’d show you some shots of my yard, to give you a little perspective, so you can see with me how this thing plays out. These pictures were taken yesterday, pre-storm of course.

Here’s my view at low tide.

Here’s my view at high tide, from the top floor.

Here’s my yard at high tide, from the ground.

Remember, I’ve only been here a couple of weeks, so I don’t have any history with this house yet, but I’ve been told the tide can get much higher during storms and times when we are prone to high tides (the moon and the time of year can affect this as well). So, I’m guessing the water will get closer to the house during Irene. Assuming I’m not in danger of being swept into the marsh, because I certainly don’t intend to get swept into a salt marsh over pictures, I’ll try to show you shots at various points during the storm, depending on what there is to see.

Next week, we’ll also be heading out to the oceanside house (a pre-planned trip actually), where unfortunately, there will likely be more to see.

Stay safe, everyone, and pray.