Monday, August 19, 7:56 am 38.8N 73.1W...The first squall, the first outlier of Hurricane Bob has just passed through. A brief shower as I was out buying cat litter and batteries, the irreplaceable essentials. The conveniece stores are crowded, people grabbing armloads of bread and water, candles and cigarettes, enough to last them the couple of days they may be out of contact with the Pipeline of Civilization. Word is that Bob will be making landfall early this afternoon, and the local news has been preempting since seven a.m.

The neighbors are all out with circular saws and plywood covering up windows. I've had to make do with masking tape and positive thinking. Most important thing was the tomato plants. I staked them up and packed around the cages with cinderblocks, and we'll just have to hope they survive the onslaught.

Now the news is saying that the State of Rhode Island has just ordered the evacuation of all low-lying coastal areas, which of course, this is. The storm surge is predicted in the 10-15 foot range. Bad News if this puppy comes right up Narragansett Bay which, true to form, is what Bob Sheets at the National Hurricane Center in Florida is now predicting..."a 50 mile wide eye...sustained winds of 115 mph..." The only good news is that they're still calling for it to make landfall around two this afternoon, beating the high tide by two hours...

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