Susanna J. Sturgis   Martha's Vineyard writer and editor
writer editor born-again horse girl

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Wild Weather

October 28, 2006

There ought to be a law: When you go out to close the stall door, that's the moment the rain will start coming down in sheets and the bolt that has always shot smoothly through will hit just below the [Quick, somebody: What's the name for the little tunnel the bolt goes through??] thingie it's supposed to go through because suddenly the door doesn't hang right and you have to go in for a wedge and a hammer and by the time the bolt is securely through the thingie [Help! Word!] you are soaked clear through.

Nature has many ways of telling you you're overdue for a shower. Which I have now had: clean hair feels so good, why do I think taking a shower is too much work?

Before I got my sopping self and my not-quite-drenched Malamutt home, I stopped by Edu Comp 15 minutes before closing and bought the last three pads of yellow 3-by-2-inch Post-its on the shelves. Five Corners was flooded. I avoided the deep water by rolling through the (recently renovated) post office parking lot, but Lagoon Pond Road was under water up by Maciel Marine and there was no way around that. I raised a little wake but not much. The good news about the water is that there's so much of it the overflow-sewer smell is pretty faint. I had no brakes to speak of by the time I turned right on Skiff Ave., but since Skiff is seriously uphill all the way to where I turn left into Hinkley Circle that didn't matter. I tested tested tested; by the time I reached the intersection of Rice and Dunham I could stop. This was good; it meant I didn't crash into the Flanders' house.

The Malamutt insisted on staying outside. OK, it's still blowing hard but the rain is sporadic. He didn't bother to wake up till 2 p.m. Even though he's never been a morning dog, this was a record for him.

Amber and russet leaves are plastered from one side to the other of the roads in my neighborhood. The trees are looking thin, and what foliage is left is brown. Astonishing, because yesterday the trees were lush and green against a deep blue sky. Where did the green go? Two days ago I donned my first turtleneck of the season. Daylight savings ends tonight; the clocks go back. I'll wake up early tomorrow. Rhodry almost certainly won't. Takes more than temporal shenanigans to fool a Malamutt.


Post-blow P.S. I'm told by a reliable source, Sally in Ontario, that the thingie is called a sleeve. Many thanks, and Rhodry says "Woo-woo!" to Jess and Clancy.

 

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