Waiting game

I have reached my uncle's place. The freeway was completely empty, a stark contrast to yesterday when so many people were stranded there. In fact, it was so eerie; kind of reminded me of the time we hosted the Super Bowl and I cut out of the Super Bowl party early to get home before the stadium set free its hoardes of happy/angry spectators. The clean stretch of freeway almost had me considering making a run for the Big City to the West, but my head was still hurting, and I had no idea what conditions were ahead of me. Plus, gasoline is a major issue and there are no supplies between here and well, anywhere else.

The wind started to pick up during my drive and were pushing my little car around. The clear blue skies of this morning are gone, as are the benign wispy white clouds. The clouds moving in now are a mixture of white tinged with gray, and then wholly gray. The black clouds are not here yet. The winds, three hours after I arrived here, are considerably stronger. It's certainly not skirt weather and if I go out again, it'll be wearing jeans!

I'm having minor angst over my car and have moved it three times since getting here. I've finally found a spot that I'm somewhat comfortable with. While residents have boarded up their windows here at this complex (unlike mine), they have not evacuated their balcony of stuff (unlike mine). So there is danger of flying projectiles -- things like toys, plants, bicycles, lawnchairs, that kind of thing. But what happens now happens. Material things are insured and can be repaired. Meanwhile, I'm not riding the storm out alone and that's the important thing. More later, depending on the power/phone line situation.

ETA: In just the last 10 minutes or so, the lights have started to flicker. No serious loss of power yet, but it's only a matter of time.