Water Water Everywhere - RL

It's never a good sign when The Weather Channel sends a reporter to do stand up in your area. The remnants of Hurricane Ida crept through our area last week. Days of WIND and rain. What is "Heavy Rain Mist" anyway?

By Thursday the ground was already saturated, by Thursday evening sewers were full so rain water backed up onto streets, into driveways and parking lots. White caps in some streets. The underpasses were full (say 15' of standing water). Downtown was closed Thursday afternoon and Friday. Some felt Friday was just as bad. The rain started tapering off Friday and quit on Saturday. Sunday lovely blue skies.

During Hurricane Isabel (the only other really bad storm since I moved here) we lost power for 42 hours. We lost power Thursday as it was getting dark. Rob saw a BIG blue arc that filled the sky and we both heard the transformer POP several blocks away. It came back on Saturday 45 hours later. 155,0000 without electricity. We had one of the top five highest tides in recorded history for this region - 8' high tides (usual high storm tide is 3-1/2') with 52 mph winds and gust of 78 mph the waves were topping out at 15' !! Waves were breaking over the causeway deck leading up to the I-64 bridge between South Hampton Roads and North Hampton Roads. This is what I saw reported, it may have been worse. Trees, lines down, flooding of cars, businesses, homes.

Wind whipped the rain everywhere, our neighbors lost the siding under their eaves and there is a gaping hole a man could walk through to get into their attic from the outside! Our windows (all big) are two panes that slide side to side mounted in tracks similar to those for a shower door. Rain hit the windows on the east side, ran down into and under the tracks onto the sill and down the wall - all Thursday evening and well into the night. We went through every towel, hand towel and washcloth we have - rolling them into the tracks, catching the water moving onto the sill and mopping up the carpet when we weren't quick enough, ringing them out sometimes, putting in dry ones. It finally slacked off enough that Rob felt it could be left unattended and went to bed at 5am.

It was 50 something outdoors the temperature had dropped to 68 inside by the time the electricity came back on. That doesn't sound bad, but I get chilly easily, so I was wearing a kind-of-robe over my clothes with a big triangular angora shawl. My cat Boots, was cool, he spent every night beside my pillow, partly covered with a blanket!

We really did pretty well. We had candles, flashlights, lanterns. Rob went to the grocery early Thursday pm (no work for us - colleges and shop closed) and I made chili immediately, and put it in a crock pot to keep warm. We reheated it Friday in a chafing dish.

By Friday night my best view of the rain was lighted from the back by the street lights (they were on again). Blowing almost horizontal, it looked like clouds of heavy mist blowing over the roofs.

We read, wrote (sitting at computer desk next to a bowl with tea lights), and played monopoly - roomie folded first, I had the railroads, Rob had hotels on the expensive corner and won. Rob worked Friday. By Friday I was b o r e d. I'm not good at sitting around doing not much. It was a dull gray day, poor visibility even with the blinds and curtains open so I couldn't do any handwork (embroidery). I worked Saturday.

Now it's clean up time: everything in the fridge went into the trash. Besides the meat, so many good condiments and cheeses...sigh. And veggies, some had rotted. The freezer was cold but everything was defrosted....ouch. Now laundry and more laundry including an extra large load of towels, run the dishwasher, clean the carpet (tracked in mud), consulting on what everyone feels is important for the fridge, a long trip to the grocery later today.

My first pleasure was a lovely long shower, head to toe clean and body lotion..mmmm....heavenly warmth.

Update: One well thought out shopping list and $245 later, the fridge looks really really bare. But do we really need seven bottles of salad dressing? nooo?? and three different mustards?...yes.

My First Modeling/Posing? Gig !!

I am in a couple of general Role Play groups that were created by a friend for the purpose of letting the role play community at large know what is going on. Last night a request went out for a fae to pose with a new fae house.

I do like helping people out when I can. I responded and found myself standing on the platform...mmmm...deck of a little one room house

in a really HUGE tree!

Here I am asleep in the leaf bed. The tan is the roof below me. He requested something faeish - like TinkerBell but not her. I have Nicky Ree's fairy costume in green, with my Seven Selection's wings, he pronounced it perfect.

It was my first pose/modeling gig for someone I didn't know. He offered a copy of the house or lindens for payment. I received 100 L.

Fae Fest - Samhain

The fae and druids joined together to bring the Druidic Celebration for Samhain to the Kingdom of Erebos.

The announcement read thusly:
Come to the high meadow for two hours of dancing to rejoice in a bountiful harvest. Fae Fst will be followed by a Samhain Ritual to ensure that we will survive the harsh winter to come. The choreography and music throughout will be provided by Lady Emy and DJ Taliesin Silverstar. If fertility and wickerman pagan customs offend you, please plan to leave by 1pm SLT. Otherwise, plese join us at the bonfire.

Dancing during the Fae Fest portion of the event

Foxie beguiling Hawk with her long silky hair

Talie, Nicole, Emy, Alk, Casandra dance near the bonfire

Roberta and Casandra near the cornstalks from this year's harvest

Faun and Justine in the symbolic dance

The stag is placed atop the burning bier. Linwe handled the symbolic druidic ritual for Samhain very smoothly.

More pictures can be seen on the Chronicles of Erebos blog.