Most of you know about my annual pansying. Over the last few weeks I have planted many pots of red, white and blue pansies, just for general principles.

Last weekend, I was easily and quickly seduced by black pansies and I planted some of them today, along with companions of tangerine. There are more to plant and when they are in the ground, I shall buy some more, no doubt (and replant some of them after the squirrels dig them up).

I gossiped with my new neighbors, who are tearing up the kitchen and painting over all the pale avocado green in the bedrooms. The avocado green wall-to-wall has already been ripped up and the green and harvest gold daisy wallpaper has gone. They used to like green, they said, but after this they hate green. Everything my ex-neighbor had was green and yellow, never changed since she got married, always had green and yellow all over the house, linens and china too. Ugh! And I LIKE green and yellow! Or did.

Their daughter has planted some pansies for them too and spread pine straw over the beds, doing a little edging as well.

It was a beautiful cool day today. I love North Carolina autumns and the ugly harshness and heaviness of summer is fading fast into memory. I shan't have to deal with it again until about late June next year. Bliss!

By the way, there's a little black kitten hanging around now. . . I've got the trap from the Hungarian and will try to catch it this week.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

Answers

Ah, the peaceful domestic life!

My garden is almost finished for the year. I have a few cold weather veggies hiding beneath a blanket of straw, but the annuals will be nipped by the next frost. Indoors, however, I've started some sprouts.

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

weather man said that the forecast models are indicating that we may have a hurricane next weekend.

Lovely!

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

Noooooo! Not NOW!

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001

Atlantic Ocean, from AccuWeather.com

The area of disturbed weather near Nicaragua has become better organized and has been upgraded to tropical depression 15. Ship reports and data from a hurricane hunter aircraft show that the system has developed a closed circulation and is tropical depression 15. The lowest pressure was found at about 13 north and 83.5 west, 40 miles southeast of the Nicaragua coast.

The pressure of the system was down to 1005.0 millibars. Winds with the system are near 35 mph with gusts to 40. During evening hours of Monday it appears as if the center has moved over northeast Nicaragua. However, satellite motion suggests the system is nearly stationary. The potential exists for a storm and even a hurricane to form within 72 hours and perhaps effect the United States by the end of this week. Rapid development of the system tonight and tomorrow will be inhibited due to its proximity to land.

However, if it moves out into the open waters of the northwestern Caribbean just north of Honduras, there is a good chance for rapid development. The environment over these waters is favorable, and this region is climatologically favored for development this time of year.

Computer forecast models track the system anywhere from the Yucatan Peninsula to Cuba. The center of the spread of possible forecast solutions is through the Yucatan Channel. The extremes in the solutions are to take to storm due west over the southern Yucatan or take it northeast over Cuba then into the Atlantic. Since this is is a poorly organized system we can't be sure of it's future movement. If it shows a general northward motion during the next couple of days the solution taking it towards Florida will become the better solution.

But, if it stays over Nicaragua and Honduras for more than 2 days it could have a tough time becoming a storm. Tropical depression number 14 is located near 28.2 north and 44.5 west or about 1990 miles west southwest of Lajes in the Azores Islands.

Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph with gusts 45 mph. The depression is moving west at 12 mph and will turn to the northwest tonight and then to the north and the northeast as an upper-level trough approaches from the west.

This system is very close to becoming upgraded to a storm over the next 24 hours. However, the storm will probably be absorbed by an extratropical low in the next two or three days.

http://hurricane.accuweather.com/adchurr/ocean/atl.asp?go=1 &partner=msnbc

-- Anonymous, October 29, 2001