Hurricane Irene: Dispatch from the Aquacalypse

I'm not going to say it's a fair trade, but one thing I notice about Tropical Storm Irene is that the air smells really, really good. I've been going outside during the calmer moments and inhaling deep lungfuls of it. Is this what air from the Bahamas smells like? I should've gone there a long time ago.

We've gotten off lucky compared to a lot of folks--so far the biggest damage we've seen is that our neighbor's tomato plant has tipped over. The direction of the wind means that there's a corner of the house that actually provides a nice little windbreak; as I type this, I'm looking out the window at five sparrows and a robin who are taking advantage of it, hunkering down and eating the seeds I've tossed out.