Hi P.A.!

To all my relatives sitting on my parents' bayhouse porch shooting the breeze and enjoying the "nicest part of the day," thanks for humoring my phone call about hurricane preparedness and evacuation. Just needed to confirm that I had all my tasks right (I did) and check what else my dad, a.ka. Phi Beta Papa, would do (i.e. when he would consider leaving here, if he were us). He saw that the track of the storm takes this hurricane practically into our backyard and he is most worried about trees for us (we're about 5 miles inland and maybe 50'+ above sea level). Specifically, the gorgeous, gigantic old silver maple we have out back. It stands 50 feet high, easily, with a spread of 30'+ and not that far from the house, which means that if it falls, it's going to crash right into Sis and Bud's bedroom. It's about 90 years old, the age of the house, with shallow roots, as all silver maples have, which makes it vulnerable to wind. One tree man shook his head wondering why anyone would've planted it so close to a house. Which is what worries Pop. The storm comes in during the day, most likely, which means we can be downstairs, in the front of the house, away from the tree; otherwise, they'll sleep with us. So with all that in mind, we're as ready as we can be.