Hurricane Omar comin' to visit

We've been very fortunate here to have avoided a hurricane for years. So I guess it's our turn. As the data comes in, the storm, which was centered right on us, has moved east, with St. Croix in the headlights. But that is only the center of the storm...and Omar is a big boy, though a slow mover.

I've seen what unnamed heavy rain events can do in the islands. With fragile infrastructures, it doesn't take much to create chaos: landslides, floods, loss of homes and loss of lives. By Friday the storm will have moved on and we don't know what will remain behind. I'm looking around my quite fragile little casita (nice word for shack) and hoping it will be standing when I get back. I think I live in one of the best places in the world, but not enough to trust this structure in a hurricane! I'm house/dog/cat sitting up on a hill in what is more or less a concrete bunker with awesome views (but the windows will be closed as tight as they close), a generator and two dogs who hate storms. The cats just act like cats, who knows what they are thinking?

Right now it's so peaceful, and I am reminded, as I am every day, of how much I love where I live. I'm looking out the windows and out the open door at my yard and the bay, which only has a slight ripple on it. The sky is grey, but not ominous. It's hard to believe how much this is going to change.

We'll see what happens next.