August

Mother Nature had some mood swings this month.  She was got and sunny one day, then ornery (earthquakes and hurricanes) the next!  Mark and I were both at work when the 5.8 magnitude earthquake shook Baltimore on 8/23.  I was outside eating lunch when I felt a strange rumbling beneath my feet, then again a few moments later, more powerful.  Another girl and I exchanged curious looks, not really sure what had just happened, then quickly decided we'd better make our way out!  The streets were flooded with evacuated employees as we waited for the green light to return to work.  The phone lines were jammed, so I couldn't get through to Mark, but later he told me his building felt like it was swaying back and forth like it was going to fall over.  Freaky!!  Earthquakes are definitely not typical for this part of the country. I'd never experienced anything like that before, and hopefully will never have to again!

Later that week the city braced for the arrival of Hurricane Irene.  Mark was in L.A. visiting friends, so I hunkered down at home with the pugs and made sure we had plenty of water, food, flashlights and candles in case their was a major power outage. I tracked the storm online and kept an eye on the weather.  The wind was blowing sideways and there was a fair amount of rain, but no serious damage in our vicinity.  The power flashed off around 4 a.m. but came right back on.  Others were without power for over a week! 

Mother Nature on a good day :)

Post-quake chaos at Hopkins

Baltimore Farmer's Market

Indoor volleyball champs!