Lucky

We got through the storm just fine. Well, in true Simpson style, that is. Monday was a day of mostly sitting around and watching the wind blow. Buffy ran from window to window barking. I decided to take her outside. Trying to get a distractable terrier to go to the bathroom outside in a hurricane is not advisable. After the fourth large wind gust, she whipped her head around and saw one fool-hardy squirrel dash along the fence line. The angle of her collar coupled with the rain made her super slippery. She slid out of her collar and made a mad dash across the yard. Knowing her Houdini like skills in the area of fence escaping, I charged after her. I slid across the wet leaves sputtering and swearing. It was hardly graceful. I managed to tackle her. If she had escaped, there was no way that I could have gotten her back.

After that adventure, Buffy went outside with a harness, two leashes, and her coat. We went out a total of six times. Six times in the wind and rain. Six times that Buffy was too distracted and confused to focus on going to the bathroom. I finally gave up and put out the training pads that I had left from when we first got her.

Other than our adventure with Buffy, we spent most of the day hanging out and watching movies. I made another "cleaning the freezer" dinner. When I opened the trash can, I found a broken CFL light bulb. All signs pointed to Lily. I asked her if she broke a light bulb and tried to hide it. Finally, there was a confession after many tears. I knew that you are supposed to ventilate after a CFL bulb breaks. So, I threw open the window in our room. The good news was gale force winds ventilate quickly. The bad news is it makes a room freezing and wet just as quickly.

Once it got dark, it got very scary. We could hear the wind and trees whipping around, but couldn't see anything. Finally, we all snuggled up in my room. I barely slept. At 4 a.m. the wind finally stopped. I woke up on Tuesday exhausted. Lily and I took Buffy out for a walk and surveyed the neighborhood for damage. We were lucky, we only lost a shutter and my butterfly bush got knocked down. I planted the bush in memory of my father when we moved in here 6 years ago. I managed to use a combination of mulch and an old plow to prop the bush up. Hopefully, it will be ok.

Like I said, we were so lucky! That night we watched the news coverage from New York and New Jersey. The girls were in shock. Both of them couldn't believe how lucky we were.