Hello, readers. Let me be up front–I am a little nervous about this! I am way more accustomed to being under the radar, or, now that I have a vegetable garden for the first time ever, I like to joke and say ‘off the grid.’

Down yonder in the Gulf Coast–Louisiana to be specific–June first marks the first day of hurricane season. It’s a long season–from June 1 through November 30–with most of the heaviest worrying in August and Spetember. By June 1, you are supposed to have your emergency supplies in order–an evacuation plan, food and water to last for a few days, emergency first aid, extra dog food, cat food, water supply, gas. Important documents go in a waterproof spot. The year after Katrina I was, in light of our experience the year before,  frantic about this day–I had a shed filled with drinking water and canned goods, an abundance of gasoline. All of my photographs were in plastic bins which I then double bagged in contractor garbage bags and duct taped. (In fact–most of my photographs have remained in those very bins–untouched for three years.) I had back up prescriptions for the kids. Valium for myself. My mother-in-law made candles and poured them in old baby food jars. We had every type of battery and light. The packing, repacking, and checking of these items was my whole summer occupation. If the wind blew, I was ready to put the kids in the car and leave.

Well, things have changed. I’ve relaxed a bit every year, and this year it took about three minutes to prepare the kit. Perhaps it’s our recent move to a (mostly) pine-free house ten miles north of Lake Pontchartrain that has made me so bold. This year, I have on hand two flashlights, a crank radio, half a box of bandaids, the gas in the lawnmower, two cans of spaghettios, a lighter, and a Lady of Guadalupe Hurricane candle.