Easily Distracted

There were a million productive things I could have been doing last night, but... photographing the thunderstorm seemed the most worthwhile.

That's Quite Enough Now

I didn't really care for welcoming April with more snow, but I must admit it did make the new backyard look even more beautiful. And the kids thought it meant Christmas was coming again, so at least I got the pleasure of crushing their hopes with the truth that Tax Day is actually the next holiday.

I Don't Care If It's Below Zero...

The weather here in Ohio has quickly changed from pleasant to... intrusive. Trips to the backyard now require jackets and hats. And, in what I'm starting to notice is some sort of strange annual weather cycle, things will only get worse.

So what's a stay at home parent to do? Sanity was often maintained this summer by trekking over to the park or at least kicking it in the backyard rather than engaging in another battle royal in the family room. Those options are going to be off the table in a couple of months (or sooner). At the very least they'll require an hour and a half of searching for and suiting up shoes, socks, coats, hats and gloves. So how does one stave off cabin fever in the winter months with a house full of restless children?

Rain Cometh

Golf outing = FAIL!

Cruel

My company employs tens of thousands of people in dozens of offices around the United States. In times of inclement weather, we have a handy 800 number we can call to hear a recorded message with the status of any and all office closings across the country. Simple, efficient and conclusive.

Given the disasterous weather across the Ohio Valley, I called the number this morning to get the scoop on the Dayton office. I listened to a half dozen announcements for various offices closings and delays.

"Dallas, 10 a.m. delayed open... Baltimore, 11 a.m. delayed open... Littlefield, closed..."

And then finally a message about good ol' Dayton.

"Dayton, business as usual. Please use caution when driving to the office."

What the...?!?! A whole list of closings and delays and one "you're open" notification? Obviously if we're not closed, we're open. Dayton was the only office that apparently needed the reminder. That's just plain mean. And the "use caution" public service announcement was road salt in the wounds. Not that I really care -- I was coming in no matter what -- but whoever added Dayton's message must have a cruel sense of humor.

Hurricane Ike Visits Ohio

So apparently Ohio gets hurricanes, too. Fifty mile per hour sustained winds with gusts up to sixty or seventy miles an hour. Millions of people without power (some still). Sorry it's taken me so long to post. Best of luck to everyone who was really in the path of destruction. This is nothing compared to what Texas got.

Every intersection in the area was reduced to a four-way stop. Not good for morning and evening commutes.

Trees, big and small, were snapped in half.

The greatest damage in my relatively treeless neighborhood was to roofs and siding.

With the vast majority of gas stations in the region being without power, the ones that were up and running didn't hesitate to jack up their prices.

Hurricane Ike decided our house is officially off the market.

Peter Rabbit

I spied this cute little bunny in our backyard, taking refuge from the rain. The rodent was just waiting for a break in the storm so he could go munch on the plants in the beds around the house.

Weather Update

Looks like no major damage was done last night. It's still raining and there are various "watches" in effect the remainder of the day. For awhile there I thought Xenia might be in trouble again.