One More 'Gain

I think it's fitting that I give you this view one more 'gain. This is how you want it to look when you wake up; beautiful, sunshiny day. That new layer of sans is begging to be lounged upon.

I'll see you when Guston gets here.

This blog has been brought to you by the letter 'J' and by the number '12'...

...toots

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Repair for the Worst

It's quite the shame, actually, that none of the repairs needing to be done to this cottage can be blamed on Earl. We've likely done more damage to this building in a single party. Eh, six and one half hands on the other dozen and see which fills last.....time for bed.

Nite, Earl. Nite, kittens. Nite, zzzzz...

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Color by Numbers

The steady rain and pulsing winds would impress upon me that one of those strong bands you see on the radar images is passing over me right now. But I would like to say for the record, it doesn't look orange and red in the least bit. Bummer!

How great would that be if you could actually see in the sky the icons from the weather man's map? "Wow, the H is getting awfully close...do you think we should seek shelter beneath that station logo?"

All of the neighbours have gone to bed, but you tell me the last time one of them has out-partied me?! Not no, not never!

Wish I brought a guitar...

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Sitting here on the back porch, drinking a cold one and listening to the banging of trash can lids, it's quite clear that Earl will exempt us from any deadly harm tonight and probably spare us from any significant structural damage as well. The only real affect, and one counter to the bruit image of a hurricane, is that the surf actually deposited about 16 inches of sand onto the upper portion of the beach near the dunes. As you can see in the picture, they'll need to raise that pole if they're planning to hang trash cans from it in the future. (Compare this picture to the earlier one.)

Now, don't get me wrong. I am grateful for this and in no way am I laughing this one off. Earl was a ferocious storm while approaching, and anyone who has been through a big hurricane knows that shit can turn badly in a matter of minutes. To be sure, there are 3+ storms right behind Earl and anyone of them can swing the odds back toward an ominous ending.

But for now, I'm going to 'count to 24' and pass out on the floor. In my boredom, it's likely I'll continue to update this blog for the remainder of my time here. And who knows, I might be right back on this very porch for the next hurricane, enjoying quiet solitude and a case of brew.

Be back in a minute. ...toots!

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It wasn't at all necessary, but I felt I should give a once-over to the cooking gear. Works fine; boils water in seconds, finishing touches in minutes, and a damn hardy dinner for me tum-tum.

I'm sure hurricanes don't need to be told how to do their jobs, but it seems like the wind should be blowing from a different direction.

The wind is picking up, though. So, do what you do, Earl. A moment ago, what seemed to be a gust of about 30+ mph actually stopped the fan from blowing for a couple of second. And yes...to those of you who have been here and know, the fan means I have both doors WIDE open.

Holy poop-shoot...gotta go for a bit. That was no baby gust. brb

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Damp Doings

Here we go! Finally getting a steady rain. There's no doubt it's still just an outer band, but I was beginning to think Earl didn't like me. The clouds are really pretty and I'm going to miss them when the sun sets. The tide is falling and...oh crap!!...I gotta go make sure mommy and her kittens are out from under that house by the access...

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Loggonit!!

Here's the same shot as before, only the sea has reclaimed the log. It also seems to have an affinity for a child's raft, as you can see in the background a little green one being pull asunder. I feel certain the child abandoned it in time to save het own life. I think I'll call the raft Horatio.

"Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man..." ...silly Horatio, go set things right in Denmark.

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This is the tide line about an hour before high tide. At least some of the surge is strong enough to wash this log up to the dunes. If you look at the wave breaking in the background, that's about where the water line is on a normal high tide. We had the first, although small, rain-band blow through around 1:30 pm, but it didn't last.

There's a mandatory evacuation issued for all Bogue beaches, which includes Atlantic Beach, Emerald Isle, and Indian Beach, etc. They'll be turning away traffic coming onto the beach after 5 pm, but of course, they won't close the bridges to people who want to leave...ever.

The wind is starting to pick up. I've been fishing on rickety piers in nor'easter storms that were far worse than this. But there's something eerily imminent about the way these winds blow.

Hmmm...I wonder if I should mow the lawn...

...toots

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Booty Boarding for Breakfast

You may not be able to tell from the perspective of this camera phone, but some of these waves are near chest high. For the record, it is widely believed that The Queen Anne's Revenge (Blackbeard's flagship) was found in the waters off the coast of Fort Macon in Atlantic Beach. You can see where his booty ran aground just beyond the pier in this video....whatever whatever....

Do I really need to spell this one out?! BOOTY!! By the way, both surfers made it out AND back in.

Headquarters

This is the view from where I am. The telephone poles you see in the distance are right in front of the dunes. This is the rare occasion I'm glad there are large houses between the beach and this rickety cottage.

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Hellofa High Tide

The high tide mark for Wednesday, Sep 1st was about a foot past this trash can pole, which is about 5 feet from the dunes. This is roughly twice the distance of the norm here in AB, and Earl is hardly licking the coast yet.

This reminds me...check tide tables; would want to imagine this hurricane passing at high tide.

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MMS

MMS test fire. I should be ready for whatever; stay or go.

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SMS Blogger confirmed...MMS in the workings. This is a test....

Arrival

I arrived in Atlantic Beach at about 10:15 Wednesday, made camp and organized all my gear, then took a walk on the beach with a cold one. Although the slight breeze was hardly any indication that there was a storm-a-brewing, the surf, and the abnormally high high-tide, mark both severed as a reminder that, indeed, category 4 hurricane Earl was on its way.

In a moment, I will be tweaking Blogger and Android together to get mobile updates to the web. Hopefully that'll be working by morning.

toots...