Eye of the Hurricane

The weather was already bad when I got up this morning. It was pouring and gusty, with dark clouds in the sky. I spent most of the morning in front of my computer, checking on everyone I know. As far as I can tell, only a few people are left in Wildwood, my good friend Kelly and her family and a former middle school teacher, Ms. Krah. Everyone else has fled the barrier islands for higher ground...which is understandable. According to Yahoo! and local newscasts, New York and the Jersey Shore are supposed to get it the worst. Half the Shore is already underwater, including a lot of Ocean City, Avalon, and Stone Harbor. 

The phone ran around 12:30. My sister Rose was on the other end, asking me if I wanted to join her, Craig, and Khai at Dad's house for a little while. She wanted to let Khai get his energy out in a larger space before the storm really started picking up later that night. Sure, why not? It might not hurt to spend a couple of hours with people before the weather became too nasty to travel in.

I went downstairs a little early. The wild gusts were against my back, which means I was able to carry my umbrella with no problems, at least downstairs. I had my blue raincoat, too. A police officer checking out the roads saw me as I was waiting for Rose and asked if there was nothing wrong. I told her no, I was waiting for my sister, I was ok. I did thank her for asking.

They picked me up about ten minutes later. Thankfully, everything was fine, as far as I could tell. Dad's house is on a hill overlooking Newton River. The water was just coming to the top of the fishing dock on the bottom of the hill. The train underpass between Manheim and Manor Avenues was clear - that's usually the first place that floods when the rivers rise. Jodie mentioned they'd cleared it out over the summer; hopefully, it won't flood as bad as it used to.

We had a pleasant couple of hours over there. Khai got to let off steam to his heart's content, while Rose ran Disney Junior On Demand cartoons for him. The kid has good taste. The first three shows we watched were episodes of Little Einstein, which I discovered last year and enjoyed. The first had the kids and a Little Red Engine trying to catch nasty Big Jet, who has stolen the Red Engine's bag of party favors for his friends' hoedown. The second, slightly more Halloween-oriented had the kids helping an adorable one-eyed red monster rescue his friends from the grumpy Loch Ness Monster. The kids helped a trio of cutie-pie pigs make their garden grow in the third.

Doc McStuffins, on the other hand, is new to me. I love the premise, though. The young lady of the title wants to be a doctor like her mom, so she dons a white jacket and play stethoscope and calls herself "Doc." That "play" stethoscope is magic and allows her beloved stuffed animals to talk to her and for other toys to tell her when there's something wrong. I can see why this show has apparently been a big hit. It's awfully cute. In the first episode, Doc and her crew helps a mother possum find her babies, who have come off from the Velcro on her back. The second has Doc and her toy friends Lamby the Lamb and Stuffy the Dragon rescuing a Care Bear-like rabbit from a yard sale. The poor bunny is upset that her human wanted to give her away, but Doc fixes her up and reminds her that true friends would never abandon you that way.

They finally dropped me off at my apartment around 3:30. I worked on the cookbook inventory until I got a surprise - Lauren came on around 4. I don't usually get to chat with her until 7:30 or 8PM! We talked and worked on Three Stooges stories until I told her I needed a shower and something for dinner.

I was just starting leftover Merlin's Chicken and vegetables for dinner when suddenly, the power went out. Thank heavens we lost it for less than a minute. It was really spooky. It's flickered a few times since then, but hasn't gone completely out at press time.

I ran the first half of Young Frankenstein during dinner. The title character is Fredrick, the grandson of the famous Dr. Frankenstein, of book and movie fame (Gene Wilder). He initially wants nothing to do with his grandfather's infamous experiments on the dead...until he inherits Grandfather's estates and holdings, including all of his lab equipment and books. He finally picks up where his grandfather left off by bringing a dead criminal back to life. A mistake his assistant Igor (Marty Feldman) makes with brains leaves his monster a damaged creature...and Fredrick a dead duck with frightened locals and his stuffy fiancee (Madeline Khan).

One of Mel Brooks' best and most atmospheric spoofs, helped by the use of the lab sets from the original Universal Frankenstein. Just spooky enough to be fun for horror buffs and fans of Brooks or Wilder.

Sandy was supposed to make landfall in the area sometime tonight. I heard anything from 8PM to midnight when I was at Dad's. All I know is the wind is still going insane out there, and it's still raining. Everyone in the path of the storm stay safe and be careful!