Things That Go Bump In The Night....

Help! Help! Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!

I am just about to run screaming into the hills.

We have had rain and gale force winds for four solid days. That's FOUR, count them... one, two, three, FOUR solid days!

It' maddening, I tell you, MADDENING.



The wind has consistently and relentlessly beat against this 120 year old house, rattling the doors and windows and forcing us to take down the front shutters and lock the screen doors that go BUMP in the night.

And it NEVER lets up.

We are talking about consistent 20+ MPH winds with gusts up to 40, though I'm convinced that's an understatement. I'm a patient person, but what is going on here???



I have lived in Florida since I was young, and I have never seen anything like this. Even hurricanes pass more quickly than this. FOUR WHOLE DAYS!

The proverbial "they" haven't given "it" a name other than calling it a "coastal storm event"

Now, I ask you, WHAT in the world is THAT???



It's not being called a tropical storm, and it's not being called a Nor'easter, though the winds have gusted steadily out of that direction until this evening when they are supposedly blowing out of the east, southeast.

No matter the direction, they are whistling around the eaves of this old house like something out of a horror movie.

Hey, I love balmy breezes as well as the next person, but enough already! Wind and rain and scary noise = some place other than the Sunshine State!



If this isn't a tropical storm, then tell that to my poor banana trees whose leaves look as if they have been through the paper shredder along with my nerves!



One minute it's raining, and the next minute it isn't. Then it rains again and stops again. Rain. No Rain. Rain. No Rain. Rain. No Rain. And a steady blustery wind. There have been flash floods and downed trees, and the back yard is littered with palm fronds.

But this is some nameless wonder and NOT a tropical storm.

Yeah, in whose dreams???



This "coastal storm event" is just camped out there like some kind of mean Halloween trick.

I have cabin fever because I have visions of going outside and becoming airborne like Mary Poppins. My cousin may well be a Hurricane Hunter, but I'm sure not! That gene skipped me outright.

Instead, Mr. Magpie has been kindly foraging for food and supplies.



Me?

I just sit here, feathers all ruffled like a wet hen. Chicken of the sea, that would be me.

And speaking of chickens, I actually dreamed the other night that I was eating raw chicken. I woke up spitting it out! ;-)



And I'm sorry there are no new pictures for you. My camera is elsewhere, and truthfully, I'm so keyed up I could climb the walls so there most definitely aren't any pretty words. Just little ole Mrs. Magpie... screaming silently over the keyboard while listening to the high pitched, tea kettle whistling of the relentless Halloween wind.



After a while, it does things to your imagination.

I mean. what if that seahorse got it into his head to come clomping across the floor toward me???



Yeah, you better believe it could happen on a night like this!



So in an effort to make things better, I ate one (okay, one and a half) of those GIANT Godiva bars. And it's dark chocolate. So I've got caffeine coursing through my system. And believe me, if there was a chocolate cake or some ice cream in there, I'd be eating that, too!



Unfortunately, Mr. Magpie hydroplaned on home and left me here by my lonesome with healthy snacks like nuts. And nuts don't cut it in this "coastal storm event."

The good news is, the electricity is fine. It's not that type of storm. And I'm not being evacuated. It' not that type of storm. I don't have to board up the windows. It's not that type of storm. But again I ask you, what type of storm is this? Enquiring minds want to know!

Fitfully yours,

Mrs. Magpie... who is thankful that she has a GIANT lock and chain on the bathroom door to keep Norman Bates out of this spook house!