If there is only one thing we Floridians know, it’s that Mother Nature will do whatever it is she wants to do. As Hurricane Irene makes her way up the northeastern seaboard, stay safe, make sure you have lots of water (wine helps, too) with you wherever you hunker down, use flashlights inside (remember, most of your smart phones have an app for a flashlight, so if you haven’t downloaded that, get on it) — if you have an extra battery for your phone, make sure it’s charged. Think text messaging! Remember that things are just that, and they can be replaced. Put your important documents in plastic. Give extra attention to your animals who will probably be even more sensitive to the barometric changes than you! Above all else, remember that you are not alone in this so take care of your friends and neighbors and let them take care of you, too. We certainly learned this lesson after Wilma and still are grateful to our neighbor, Lance, who literally insisted we share the energy from his generator. Together, you will get through this and as my hero Matty Stepanik said, and I often quote, “remember to play after every storm. “