Getting Ready for Norbert

this is the soccer field and track where I walk every morning. It looks more like a scene out of the Andean Mountains. It is absolutely gorgeous. When you are down on the track, the mountains are just right in your face. I think I may have mentioned that on Friday evenings we like to go and watch the soccer games that are played here...very, very good games. Lots of people. Usually the gnats drive us away by half time, but we miss soccer alot and so it is fun to watch.

I have made a few mexican acquaintances at the track, we speak in tongues as we walk around the track....some spanish, some english, some spanglish, and a bunch of stuff none of us understands, but the fun part is, we laugh at ourselves alot. It is very nice to have those types of acquaintances.

This morning there was a cool, strong wind at the track and it was very cloudy.

I asked one of my friends if she knew about Norbert. I think she said her Uncle (Tio) is Norbert...se', se', conosco Norbert, mi' Tio.......i said, no, the hurricane......she said no comprende ( did not understand)...finally.............. ahhh, Hooreecan! Se', la television, miramos y domingo aqui, mas tarde, no problemo, esta es poquito, poquito... (something like..hurricane, yes, I see it on television, it will be here late sunday and it isn't a problem, it is little, little).........i think I said okay...

I asked another of my chica friends about it...Norbert?...... posible' manana y no deal big, she said in English.

Umbierto is here this morning. He asked us if we knew about Norbert and said posible' poco lluvia (rain). He shrugged his shoulders and went back to work.

Good grief, Bill is up on the roof, prepping the roof with a water seal. He went to the hardware store for something, probably wood to cover the windows. Last night we started taking in anything that looked like it could be damaged or blown away.

Are we nuts??? This is a huge hurricane headed over BAJA and directly toward Huatabampito, according to the weather maps we have seen. This is potentially big stuff! Huatabampito is an hour and a half due west of us.

We are talking a hurricane here, folks! Let's get busy here!

And it is supposed to hit OUR coast around 2pm on Saturday.....

But, lets remember, that we are the newcomers here. My chicas have lived here their entire lives, they are the experienced ones. This is, afterall, not the first Norbert to be headed their direction.

We have noticed a change in the night sky. It is full of splotchy clouds and there is a cooler, stronger wind. Then in the early morning there is a slight haze.

Bill says it is the leading edge of the storm.

We went to Navajoa and Obregon yesterday, both towns, by the way, had temperatures of 105. It was very hot, and hazy and unusually gnatty everywhere. Bill said...yep, leading edge of the storm.

Coming back up to the mountains, to Alamos, it began to get cooler and was 85 by the time we got home......leading edge of the storm.

Nice breeze last evening, more splotchy clouds, a faded milky way......leading edge of the storm.

The cats are meowing alot, what's up with that?......leading edge of the storm.

Bill is usually right about these sorts of things. It is why I call him Senor Sabe le Todo.....

In the night I thought of all the things I need to do today:

the wash before the storm hits, get the stereo and cds under shelter, plant the new fuego (fiery orange blossoms on these) trees before the wind starts, get to the Palacio and the mercado, walk up to the Casa de la Cultura to fund out about the class I want to take (hope it does not get cancelled), cover everything out in the stable, start eating lots of the stuff we bought in Obregon in case there are power outages, check all the flashlight batteries..........omg, I have alot to do.

I asked one of my chica friends what she would do today when she got home from walking the track. I think she said she was going to cook some pinto beans and take her hijos to Parque de Chalaton.................