This last week has been less colorful without Roman in the branches. Last night while we were out for a perch, Black Jack flew in with some shaky news: a hurricane was making its way towards us. "What's it's name?" asked Sophia. "Irene," buzzed Black Jack, "And she's lean enough and mean enough that we need to evacuate."

And just like that, the wind started howling and the rain started pounding. To keep things light, we all took names of hurricanes for 2011: Black Jack = Bret; Algernon = Harvey; Stilts = Philippe; Silas = Sean; Yvette = Rena; Magnus = Vince; Sophia = Katia; Pascal = Lee; The Twins = Ophelia and José; Penny = Gert; Edward = Don; me = Nate.

We took a break on a lamp post while the adventurers of the troop (Bret, Gert, Sean and Lee) did a little reconnaissance.

Did you know the names of hurricanes alternate from girl names to boy names, every other time? Did you know they go in alphabetical order? Did you know another name for a hurricane is a tropical cyclone? Did you know weathervanes are 3500 years old?

We were able to reach Roman and find out he was okay. When times are stormy, it's important to make sure your flock is safe.

Thankfully, we found a dry place where we could wait out the storm. Sophia began, almost immediately, to relay stories of Poseidon and why he does what he does. As we sat and listened and got lost in the sound of the wind and rain and Sophia's tales, I realized that sometimes it takes a hurricane to remind me of who and what is important.