I took Finn across the street to try out her bike with the training wheels (can you believe she’s big enough already?) and we worked on it for about 10 minutes and one rest period. She hasn’t gotten the concept of moving her legs in revolutions yet; she tends to stomp down equally on either side, hitting the coaster brake and stopping herself as soon as she gets some momentum going. We abandoned the bike and walked over to the playground, where she asked me to push her on the swings for a total of 45 minutes or so.

We made it through the hurricane really well, and escaped my greatest fear—that of losing the roof, or at the very least, a leak. The backyard looked like a Civil War battlefield when it was finished. Our trees held firm but dropped piles of twigs, sticks, and dead branches everywhere. The neighbors lost an older oak tree across their driveway, and friends in Paradise lost their entire porch. We contented ourselves by watching Toy Story 3 in the living room while the wind howled outside. Our power actually stayed on until 5:30 or so Sunday morning before it finally got cut off, and we’re still without it Monday.

In better news, I’ve finally got the cash to call a roofing company. We’ve been coasting along under a slate roof that’s about ten years past its sell-by date, and I’ve given up on my dream of replacing it with the same material. We’re going to go with a 30-year asphalt shingle and have them replace the gutter on the back roof, as well as add a ton of snow guards to keep the gutter from getting flattened again. It’s been a long time coming, but I’ll be happy to have it done for the winter.

We’re most concerned about our vacation in Hatteras, which was scheduled to begin this Saturday. The word from our realty office is that there’s mostly wind damage and lack of power, but the houses in general are in good shape. Rt. 12 north of Rodanthe is breached and there are several other spots where the road is washed out, so we’ll have to wait and see if there’s a way to get onto the island that doesn’t involve a ferry (but I doubt it).