Oh Irene

Hurricane (Tropical Storm) Irene just paid us a visit the other day

You might have heard something about it.

Frank and I are generally prepared for emergencies around here so we weren't feeling overly concerned and hadn't really done any specific preparations.

But as the people on the news and around us became more frantic we decided we should maybe, possibly, take this more seriously.

So Frank took care of what he considered the most important emergency preparedness issue for a hurricane.

He protected his tomatoes

All kinds of stakes and ropes held them in place in the hope that they would stay standing in the harsh wind and rain.

As the storm came it appeared to us that it wasn't going to be as bad as some had feared.  Yes, the big trees swayed (always makes me nervous), lots of rain fell, and there was a lot of debris around.  But no major damage was happening right around us and our power stayed on. We were lucky there...many many people lost power and still don't have it.

But at one point I looked out the window and gasped.

Of course that scared everyone and they came running.

And I pointed and said, "Your garden!"

Well, Frank had protected his tomatoes but had left the rest of the garden alone thinking it would be ok.

Not so much.

Here is what the bean plants looked like a few weeks ago:

But Irene took them down.

Flat.

Every pole was snapped.

We lifted it back up yesterday and the beans are probably ok.

But everything underneath was smooshed and broken. I don't think we'll be getting any more zucchini this season.  Not sure what my sad, squashed cilantro will do...we'll see.

Now we have some cleanup to do

But overall we fared pretty well through Irene.

And, honestly, I don't care for zucchini anyway.