ISABEL

DC shuts down in preparation for Isabel.

I was in northeastern Connecticut when hurricane Gloria plowed its way through New England. (Check out the links here and here on Gloria.) For several hours we huddled in the house while pine trees swayed, bent, popped and snapped. Before the storm we lived in a wooded area; after the storm we had a clear view of our backyard neighbors' house about 200 yards away. Luckily none landed on the house, although a big apple tree fell into our pool, and a pair of pine trees smashed a four-sided trailer we had parked in the back yard. For years afterwards the sight of bending trees sent me into a near panic.

Nature does not really care about us all that much.

MORE: I wish I was there with Anita, Bailey and Anita's parents. It may not be all that dangerous in DC tomorrow, but the city and suburbs do not strike me as very well-prepared for tropical storm winds. Over the summer, downed trees and high winds knocked out power to thousands of customers on three separate occasions.