Hurricane Katrina: Going Bare on Dove Avenue. 5:30 PM EDST I guess its just hurricane fatigue, but for the first time in 20 years we decided not to "board up" and are going through this hurricane without bringing the lawn furniture inside, putting up the shutters, parking the cars up close to the house. The wind is whipping the trees outside, and there it is for us to behold in all its splendor. (In times past, all the windows and doors were covered with the aluminum panels we keep stored in the garage until these storms approach.)

The only concession I made to this one was to go up on the roof and lower the telescoping mast down into itself, so it sticks up 10 feet instead of thirty. It is guyed to edge of the roof.

When the wind blows just the right way, the front door, when not shuttered, will make a noise when a gust hits it. Its a little like someone knocking. Not only is that happening, but the door from the garage to the living room is making that noise, which is strange. The garage door is not an outside door. Its into the garage.

We are fatigued and/or blase because this is a Category 1 storm, and it was supposed to go in at the Broward/Palm Beach County line. Well, it is not doing that; it is going into Downtown Ft. Lauderdale, which is about 10 miles closer to us. The radar shows us in the midst of the lower hemisphere. We are getting right now gusts that I would say reach about 45 mph. They should increase for the next few hours. But still a Category 1, and on the lower end of that category.