I didn’t even attempt a walk this morning with winds gusting well over 35 mph when I got up. But you’ll hear no grumbling on my part since walking seems inconsequential; I’m only too glad that I didn’t lose power here. While I certainly don’t want the inconvenience of being in the deep-freeze inside the house (because that happened years ago in the middle of Winter), nor the expense of spoiled food, my main concern is for Buddy and how I’d keep him warm. Canaries are not very cuddly nor are they portable pets. My next-door neighbor Marge would take us, but her power likely would be out as well. A hotel would be the best bet but I’m certainly not the only one with that idea and there aren’t many hotels around here anyway. The rockin’ and rollin’ going on outside seems like it will never end, but those gusts last night were just incredible. I’m usually a very sound sleeper, but the wind kept waking me up. Each time I pulled the alarm clock over, then crooked my neck to see if the stove’s digital clock was casting the dim light in the still-dark kitchen as it usually does. When I saw that pale light I was relieved and knew there were no power issues, I laid my head back onto the pillow and was soon fast asleep. It seems that every time I hear an update on the area power outages, there are thousands of additional homes and businesses with no power – the latest well over 200,000. My heart goes out to the people in Illinois – the pictures of the devastation that I watched online made me gasp in horror. It is surprising more lives were not lost with this string of tornadoes. Sometimes Mother Nature just wants to emphasize who is boss … the typhoon, now the tornadoes; let’s hope the adage that “things happen in threes” does not come to fruition.