We’re a ways inland from the shore here at Bourbon, Dogs and Art, North Carolina. So even though they call North Carolina “hurricane alley” you might say we’re over on the next block. In the past we’ve prepared for a number of hurricanes, and sometimes it mattered and sometimes it didn’t. It’s that first hurricane where you should have cared but didn’t that sets the tone for the rest.

At any rate, if you’re living on the East Coast right now there’s no more overused phrase than “batten down the hatches” as Hurricane Irene heads up the coast.

What actually are battens you might ask? They’re slim strips of wood used to secure a tarp over a hatch on a boat as a storm approaches, or as you approach a storm. But over time it’s come to mean, “get yer shit together… NOW.”

So here we battened our hatches as has become our habit since we arrogantly tried to ride out Hurricane Fran in a travel trailer back in ’95. And now Hurricane Irene is headed north and not much happened here at Bourbon, Dogs and Art. We got some wind and some nasty gusts that brought some limbs down, and some rain but no downpours. But our preparations would only seem like overkill if you’re a rookie. (What’s a rookie? Someone who can’t believe there isn’t a flashlight battery available within 100 miles 48 hours before the storm is due. Sucker.)

Anyway, enough foreplay.

As you might know, I’m working on a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to print more woodland banners. As the wind started whipping up I figured it might be educational to document how the current banners handle an approaching storm. So me, The Gerret and Maggie (the dogs) took a walk. Shot some video.

I was trying to create a rather foreboding video as the tall pines whipped back and forth in the wind and the banners held on for dear life.

But Gerret and Maggie weren’t really with the program.

To digress for a moment, if you were following the news earlier this week there was that rare East Coast earthquake followed by a human interest story about how all the animals in the DC zoo reacted in advance of the event. Well in this case, Gerret and Maggie went out of their way to eschew my personal sense of drama and make it clear that there was nothing to fear but showing up late for dinner.

So here you see our version of Hurricane Irene, the woodland banners and the dogs.

I hope you’re hurricane experience was as benign.