2 1/2 weeks of whatever

My mission for the next couple weeks is to keep an eye on my folks' house and take advantage of my unlimited access to the car. (yes, I know, still using my parents' car at 27 years old, what's up with that, but that may or may not be addressed another day....) Now, prior to the storm we had yesterday that took out a bunch of power lines and knocked over my parents' fence and trees which crushed roofs and cars and mailboxes, I was going to head north to the big city and party like a rockstar for the weekend. But I've started to rethink that idea and staying close to home sounds like the intelligent choice. Seeing the power lines sparking and the debris all over the streets and the 100 year old trees split right in half kinda worried me. I normally like storms - the wind whipping around the streets, the rain coming down in buckets, the thunder booming and lightning flashing - it's awesome to watch from a safe, dry place. Yesterday was different...I was actually concerned about getting hit by a falling branch or fried by a loose power line while I was walking home from work. And when I finally did get home and turned on the news, it turns out there had been three college students trapped in their truck by a fallen tree and right around the corner from my house a tree fell and crushed empty parked cars. Falling trees took down power lines and since electricity and rain don't mix, there were power outages and sparking lines all over the city. Oh yeah, all of that mayhem happened over the course of just two hours. And then it was over. Pretty freaky stuff. City clean up crews have been working around the clock to clear the roads and haul off the trees and power is slowly being restored. I had to detour from my normal walking to work route this morning to avoid the loose power lines and a work crew that had closed off the street in front of St. Mary's to cut up a fallen tree. The main interstate was closed for 20 miles into and out of the city last night and I haven't heard whether it's been reopened. All of that adds up to partying like a mellowed out, aging rockstar in the comfort of my own home, thankyouverymuch. Call me what you will, but I'm not taking any chances....