It seems to be over. The winds have gone from what looked like a good 25 knots steady to about 5 knots. The sky is no longer solid, gun-metal gray, but angry clouds with patches of blue sky showing. This is a dennoument. I heard we'll actually have a couple days of dry weather around here soon.

Northwesterner's prayer: I do believe in burn off. I do believe in burn off. I do believe in burn off.

I stopped the other night to pull a branch off the highway that was blocking the lane. Then yesterday on my way to the ferry I saw a guy pulled over and on the phone. I followed his gaze, and saw a branch on a power line. The branch, about 5 inches thick, was actually smoldering and there were little sparks traveling between it and the wire. Trippy.

No cat barf today, very few fruit flies, and a pending workout. Also was a productive cooking day, yielding 2 quarts of lowfat New England-style clam chowder and a Thai chicken pizza.