Thinking of our friends out east

Originally, this post was going to be about how exciting it is to see our summer projects coming together. And about how exasperated I am that our washing machine retired itself just in time for the start of the school year.

But it's hard to write about that excitement when there are dairy farms out east whose summer projects — and entire farms — were washed away by Hurricane Irene. And it's hard to be exasperated about dirty laundry when there are families who no longer have any clothes to wash.

We have several friends who farm out east, so we cringed when we heard the first reports of how hard the New England states were hit. It was hard for us to go 16 hours without electricity; a friend in Connecticut said they were told to prepare for a week without power. I can't imagine.

So, instead, I'm just going to write this: My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who are trying to put their lives back together in the wake of Hurricane Irene.