We just had a hard thunderstorm go passing through. Knocked power off once, but I didn't lose anything unrecoverable on this machine.

Youngest son came home from school and immediately came down to the office.

"Isn't the American flag supposed to come inside when it rains?" he accuses.

Is it raining?

"Yes."

Well then, bring it inside.

He knew the answer to that question, just wanted to point out my negligence.

Ours is the only flag visible in our neighborhood, by the way. Suspect most of our neighbors see this week's events as outside of their universe.

Heard that one woman was bitching at the postmaster on Wednesday because she wouldn't promise that the woman's mail (payment of a bill) would get across the country by a certain day this week.

Really.

Small town mentality.

Anyway, the heeler sisters came down with youngest son, but stayed behind. Masked heeler under the desk by my feet, her sister right beside my chair.

Boomb-a-looms, you know.

Got the little one up on my lap and calmed down, but her sister was still trembling under the desk, the whites of her eyes showing. So they traded places.

Normally I would tell them that the boomb-a-looms couldn't get them down here in the basement.

As if they understand English. But they do. Some, anyway.

But today I am no longer so positive.

Today, I can only tell them it is really, really unlikely that the boomb-a-looms could find them down here.

That's the best I can do now.