Rita

Rita has announced her presence, and while approximately 95,000 people are without power in the area, our luck has been holding; lights flicker, and occasionally go out, but so far so good. We're about 70 miles or inland from the storm, and Rita's jog to the east means our neighbors in the adjacent counties are taking the brunt of the storm. It's a relief for us, but not so good for our neighbors.

We went to the park this evening. I was afraid at first because the wind is strong, and while 20 mph doesn't seem like a lot, it's enough to push someone around if they aren't strong enough to resist. I watched the clouds swirl above me. The counter-clockwise motion of the storm is very easy to see. When we were at the park, the outerbands of Rita were just starting to move into our area. It was very odd, because we could see the sun and blue skies between the thin clouds to our west, and then to the east, the clouds were bigger and angrier. It's been like that all evening, as the outerbands move gradually out of our area and the bulk of the storm moves in.

Sunset was absolutely beautiful. To our east, there was a rainbow, brightly colored and complete, straddling the fluffy gray clouds. And to the west, the sun set, the clouds rimmed with red, the tops a light gray. The sun illuminated it all in rich golds. I joked with my uncle that it looked like something out of a Renaissance painting. Think Sistine Chapel and you get an idea of what I'm talking about. BTW, it is still hot here, a balmy 90 or so degrees.

The rain has just started. Nothing serious, but it's here. My uncle expects we will lose power sometime during the night. So far it's quiet. None of that howling hurricane wind sound I was told to expect, but of course, it's still early. The eye is moving ashore around 3 am, and that's when we'll probably get the most ferocious part of the storm. We do not expect to have power in the morning.

Right now, on all channels, it's Rita 100 percent of the time. I feel curiously cut off from the rest of the world. World, is there something going on with you I should know about? At this point, the stations aren't showing commercials at all. However, I find it funny just how often they roll the same film over and over, kind of like the Bush's Beans commercial: "Roll that beautiful bean footage!" The redudancy of the footage makes it difficult to discern what's going on. I am however vastly amused by the scene of the FEMA trucks rolling in and the anchors are beside themselves with glee. "Look, kids, FEMA!"

I think we're very lucky. Of course, like I said, we're still in the early hours, and I'll know more about what's going on tomorrow for sure, but we missed a bullet that's for sure. It's still scary, that's for sure, and it's not an experience I recommend for most people. But so far, my first 'head on' hurricane experience hasn't been that bad. But again, all of that is said with a major disclaimer: we're six hours away from landfall.