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i heard tropical storm irene crackling rain against the windows of my bedroom early this morning. when i woke up and looked outside, signposts were rattling, trees were sighing, and small twigs littered the streets. by late morning however the rain had pretty much stopped, leaving behind just the wind which continued into the evening decreasing in strength. i was glued to the television, watching the storm coverage all day. given the hype, i was sort of disappointed that it wasn't more severe. my mother called to let me know they lost power in belmont. less than an hour later it came back on.

since the MBTA was closed today and it was still too windy to ride the bike (not to mention all the bits of trees in the roads), i got a ride from my father in the afternoon when he stopped by the cafe to fix some lunch for my great uncle.

the drive was accentuated by the sounds of crunching twigs underneath the wheels. with no bus services, the streets were relatively empty, like on a holiday. here and there i saw some downed branches, and along fresh pond a pair of aging sycamore trees had broken in half, with road crew quickly moving them out of the way to unblock the roads. even at my parents' house, they parked the cars out on the street for fear that a large and unstable maple tree branch above the driveway might break off from the wind.

the rain didn't affect the basement which remained dry. some of the tomato plants in the garden were tilted, and the tall sunflower stalks were no match for 60 mph winds which left them toppled like matchsticks.

my ragweed allergy was acting up and i took a benadryl tablet. it cleared my itchy throat, watery eyes, and runny nose, but it drained me of all my energy as well. my arms felt like lead and even the act of chewing tired me out. i fell asleep on the living room floor, the dog periodically poking me with her nose reminding me it was feeding time (it wasn't, her dog clock is wrong).

all day long friends and families were calling (mostly from the west coast) asking us how we were, with this monster hurricane barreling down on us. having lived in new england for over 3 decades, this ranks as a baby storm. we've had actual hurricanes, ice storms, and blizzards that go on for days. a little rain and a little wind? just a footnote!

after dinner i asked for a ride back to cambridge. lying on the couch reading, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep again, the side effects of the benadryl still in my bloodstream. i woke up to watch the latest episode of breaking bad before going to bed. (the last few minutes, when hank goes back to the DEA with his findings, one of the best moments this season!)

i'm waking up early tomorrow morning to send off our relatives back to china.