Quick Update Before the Humans and Chickens Hunker Down

NOAA Central Pacific Hurricane Center predicted track for Hurricane Lane on August 22, 2018This will be a quick blog post, and it’s going up a couple of days ahead of time. You may recall me complaining sharing before that maintaining our satellite internet connection is challenging at the best of times. Well, we’re moving into the definitely not best of times tech-wise. After dodging Hurricane Hector a couple of weeks ago, Hawaii is now waving at Hurricane Lane. Here’s a link to a video of the storm taken yesterday by the awesome NOAA Hurricane Hunters. It’s just a rainy window until about thirty seconds in, when the sky opens above and below with the eyewall cloud all around. Crazy!

Hopefully waving is all we’ll be doing since we only have enough sedatives for one crazy dog and none for crazy humans. Unless expired Benadryl counts. But even without direct impacts, moderate rain is enough to knock out our internet. Not that it ever rains in East Hawaii (heavy sarcasm, since we get somewhere in the neighborhood of 150 inches a year). Lane’s rain bands are already hitting us in Lower Puna so I thought I’d strike while the internet iron is hot and let you know why you probably won’t find me on social media or email for a while. At least a certain eruption is still experiencing a lull <knocking on my desk>. Let’s stick to one natural disaster at a time, folks.

Hen roosting on our carport before Hurricane LaneMy husband had a holiday yesterday and spent it working his okole off making sure the house is secure. (Spellcheck thinks it was his oriole, but that’s one of the few mainland birds that hasn’t been introduced here, inadvertently or otherwise.) One of his unexpected finds: a feral hen roosting in our carport. Don’t know how long she’s been there or how much longer her eggs have, but she is hunkered down for the duration under a workbench among bags of shredded paper. A white hen used to scream across the yard every morning, announcing that she’d just laid an egg, but I haven’t seen or heard her for a couple of months. This is obviously not the same hen, though it does remind me of the one that brooded a clutch of rotten eggs under the corner of our house until we finally evicted the poor bird (Welcomed Home). Good times.

Speaking of good times, I do have a snippet of good news: beta buddy feedback on Heir, the final book in the Dead Hollow trilogy, is complete. Woo hoo! Just finishing a few minor tweaks before passing it on to my copy editor at the end of this week. Fingers crossed… I’m saving all of my good internet mojo for that send. The release date should be early October. You might want to set aside a little time because if you’ve read the first two books, the final one will grab you and not let go. Maybe have some low-maintenance food and beverages handy, too. I’m hoping unused hurricane supplies will do. 😉




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