Ain't it grand the wind stopped blowin'?

Since last summer's derecho, any time the wind picks up around here we get a little, um, nervous. Yesterday afternoon the wind blew steadily from the west at 25 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph. The wind continued to blow as I was driving to my volunteer gig at the prison last night. I saw a couple of uprooted trees as well as many, many branches and fallen limbs littering the roadway.

And when I got to the prison to sign in, I learned that the lieutenant warden had closed the compound.

Alderson FPC is more campus-like than prison-like. There are four large residential buildings and a recreation facility in one area, the education building is down a hill, the administration building is at the far end of the property and the dining hall is next to it. The visitor's center, where my activity takes place on Tuesday evenings, is a pretty good hike from the residential halls. In other words, the inmates do a lot of walking to get from place to place. And there are a lot of trees on the compound. No sense in risking any injuries.

I was sorry to miss the meeting, but understand perfectly why they were on lockdown. I just wish there were some way to notify volunteers before making a 25-mile trip, only to have to turn around and go home. Sigh. That might be more than the federal government can handle.

A toy donkey seems appropriate, yes?

I have a lot to handle today, since tomorrow my house will be filled with Democratic women for lunch and bunny assembly. I still have a couple pairs of ears to knit and I'm going to raid my stash for suitable yarn to make more toys. I printed a variety of free toy patterns for future use yesterday. (Ravelry is a wonderful resource, if you haven't joined and you love to knit and/or crochet, you really should sign up.) I should probably clean, too, right?

And walk. There's always time for a walk. Yesterday's was indoors on the elliptical, but today's will be outside, early this afternoon, with two friends. We only have time for four miles, though.

We're all pretty busy lately.