Waiting for Irene

Whether Irene is still a hurricane or a terrible tropical storm when she gets to northern New Jersey late Saturday and into Sunday we know one thing: it's gonna be wet and wild.

We've stocked up on drinking water and moved everything moveable indoors. We've got plenty of batteries for our flashlights and candles if we need them. Our food supply is adequate.

We've lots of trees around our house and we pray they'll withstand the winds. Other than that, there's not much else we can do but ride it out at home. We're not going anywhere during the storm.

I'm awed by weather extremes. I look out the front door during heavy rains or snowstorms and marvel at the strength of nature at its fiercest. We've been lucky not to have suffered any major damage from extreme weather. We don't have tornadoes here but nearby areas are subjected to severe flooding. Nothing like in the major river valleys, however.

So it's wait and see and watch and hope for the best.

Good luck everyone.