Power!

Aaron reporting live from near the eye of Hurricane Earl here. After the power was knocked out at 9:30 by frustratingly mild winds (by any storm standards), it has now - remarkably and counter to all logic - been restored, despite the tropical storm-strength winds. Witness the political pull of them Colby soccer-moms!

Speaking with the folks at home on the Eastern Shore, while they are still with power, trees are apparently falling left and right. Even here in the 'burbs, our neighbour has lost half a big maple in his back yard, which managed to fall at an angle such that it miraculously missed everything of value... like our houses.

Employing the lessons we learned form Juan, our BBQ is tied to the back deck like a hostage, as is our green bin, and a few actual hostages (I checked - they're okay).

Power flickering again...

EDIT: And that is what I wrote around noon. Very Blair Witch-y. Seven hours later - here we are. Everything still standing, the green bin and BBQ returned to their normal, on guard positions. Hostages seem to be doing okay, and are responding well to my serenading them with Celtic standards.

In conclusion - whew.