I hope all of our OP readers fared well during the hurricane. I live inland in North Carolina and we definitely felt the effects on Friday.

We had the most beautiful sunset Thursday evening, before the storm hit. I took the dog for as long of a walk as he'd tolerate (he's elderly and no longer very spry) because I knew our outings would be limited on the following day. I removed all my plants and tchotchkes from their shelves and ledges on my patio. I put the plants on the ground, where they'd get some rain but be protected from the wind, and brought windchimes and the like indoors. Inside, everything was already prepped for the possibility of a power outage.

The wind and rain began Thursday night, late, before I went to bed. It was still fairly mild.

The next morning just seemed like a very rainy day, but weather reports warned that the worst part would hit later in the day. Our apartment complex locked the elevators early afternoon so that nobody would get stranded if the power went out.

Later in the day, the wind picked up. I made cozy food, beef stew with gnocchi, fresh bread, and lots of harvest tea, and settled in to watch the show from my windows.

The alarm on my phone went off a few times, warning of flash flooding in my area. Many in the vicinity lost power, but neither my daughter's home nor mine did.

Where I live didn't get hit terribly hard. The trees surrounding our parking lot bore the worst, with some fallen limbs and one sapling taken out completely. When I took Thor out to do his business before bedtime, the rain had slowed and the wind had calmed. There was debris everywhere, just stuff like mulch, leaves, pine needles, and twigs.

The following day, when the rain stopped, I walked around the complex. The chairs from our swimming pool had not been taken in and were now IN our swimming pool, but aside from that, no harm appeared to be done.

We got off extremely easily, but you just never know with Mother Nature. For all of our science and technology, she is still unpredictable and it always pays to be prepared.

My heart goes out to those in Florida and South Carolina who suffered great losses. If you are in a position to help, please do.