Monday, September 8, 2008

weekend notes: a weekend reclaimed

(photo courtesy of the Virginia Pilot newpaper.)

Tropical Storm Hanna came and went, changing our plans, but still allowing for a great weekend! Instead of camping I opted for a quiet Friday night preparing for the storm. That is to say we checked the weather channel incessantly, and discussed the fact that flashlights existed in the house somewhere if we needed them. I rarely left my computer, refreshing weather.com every 20 minutes or so. I'm quite the weather geek - any hurricane or tornado thrill me far more than they should. Oh, and earthquakes. It's quite disturbing, actually.

Saturday morning I woke up to the smell of bacon, eggs and biscuits - thanks, Mama G! - and watched a disappointing light drizzle out the kitchen window. Surely it would pick up, right?

Um, yes.

Roxy and I drove up to Jim's with not much weather or traffic to speak of. We headed to a local shooting range for some morning recreation. (I'm a great shot, by the way. I hit a papered Osama bin Laden square between the eyes, David and Goliath style.) We also met a disturbing character named Lonny. You know, the kind of guy who loves to show off his weapons, has countless conspiracy theories and hates all democrats? We decided later that we've never met a Lonny that wasn't like that, so we shouldn't let future encounters surprise us. Nevertheless we had fun and I felt very much the part with my oversized earplugs and eyewear. Being the only girl in the place added an extra stoke of coolness, too, I think.


Most notable about the morning, however, was the change in the sky. In the 40 minutes we were in the shooting range, it went from light rain to torential downpour. But with defiance we decided we wouldn't let Hanna thwart our plans any longer and merged onto 95 towards Jim's sister's in Bumpas, VA.

And then we changed our minds. After a mile of hydroplaning, we turned around and waited out the storm at Jim's house, listening to the wind and, of course, monitoring weather.com.

A few hours later we dared the roads again, despite some disconcerting "High Water Ahead" signs. By the time we arrived, the weather was AMAZING. The calm after the storm made for beautiful family-time outside with the dogs. I even believe I smelled (smelt?) a bit of fall in the air! Could it be?

Sunday was a busy day with church, my SIL's & BIL's baptisms, a tummy-stuffing lunch at Maggianos, and more of the outdoors. The weather was again BEAUTIFUL. That evening Jim and I drove back to his house, sorted through some boxes, and enjoyed a quiet night catching up on Facebook and playing Scramble and various other silly computer games.

So, nice try, Hanna. You may have tried your darnedest, but we beat you! Now about that pesky brother Ike...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, let me just say that you def look the coolest there with the earplug and gun... I am a tad jealous. That looks like so much fun, and oh so "Alias" like.

Crafty P said...

that is a ROCKIN' picture!

umm, i especially like the ending where you played SCRAMBLE.

ps. noting your storm preparations. ours would have included jim cantore from the weather channel. love him

Megan said...

something i never thought i'd see - a picture of karen holding a gun! but you do pull it off, charlie's angels style! i am a weather geek too - i was just on weather.com reading about ike and the projected path. you'd think i live in florida or somewhere actually in the path of these storms by the way i follow them!

Happy said...

I'm in awe of your coolness.

But that could be because I'm too scared to say anything else after seeing that pic with the gun!

Are you sure you don't have a little "gangsta" in you?

Hmmnn...

Anonymous said...

You can never be to cool.

I love it when the gene pool is confirmed. I used to love shooting when I have a chance. Not that that happens much. 8-)

Muthering Heights said...

I'm glad that you were able to enjoy some good weather!

And you look ADORABLE in your shooting gear there, Miss Oakley!

Kerri Smith said...

maybe Lonny knows my dad...

Rach said...

Thanks, Karen! Now I know what I'm going to wear for my race on Saturday!



um just kidding.

Happy said...

OH MY WORD...your name is Karen~and here all along I thougtht it was STELLA!!!!

Here I was thinking of A Streetcar Named Desire "Stella!!!!"

Heavens, I'm a tad embarrassed.

Erin said...

karen,
i'm actually a little scared of you now... toting firearms!
me, not a weather geek. took me years to wean M. off the weather channel. all i want to know is if i need a coat or umbrella, and half the time i don't listen.