the day before

Mother Nature has been having her way with the East Coast this past week, first an earthquake now Hurricane Irene! When I woke on Saturday, the rains had not yet begun so I headed out with my camera (now affectionately called lumi-belle) into an atmosphere I can only describe as tropical. The wind made its presence known just as a reminder that a storm was coming noted in the ringing of chimes on porches and the flapping of my white blouse around my thighs as I stopped to capture flags unfurling in waves above my head…

…as always, the flowers called out to me to capture them in their final moments before beating rain and strong gusts would strip them of their blossoms, altering their complexions too soon…

  

…the bees were buzzing wildly about and flies were perched on petals as if they were in a drugged stupor…

…it didn’t seem likely but when I looked up, it was 10:30AM, three hours had passed and as I looked down at a big brown acorn, I felt the first drop of rain plop on my forehead…

…fortunately I was a block from home. I didn’t rush to get inside especially since I knew I would be there for at least the next 24 hours.

As I sit at 12:40AM remembering the day before, tree leaves swishing loudly and water spilling over the gutter, Irene is just really beginning to show DC exactly what she’s got. I happened to look up from my laptop to see the strangest picture on my sputtering TV screen -- a totally deserted Grand Central Station in NYC. Wow!

Here’s hoping that the eye of this storm will close without leaving behind too much mayhem but, until it shuts…

keep your peepers open!®