Steve and I are wondering whether his art show this Saturday evening will go on. Should he hang the show? Should I buy the hors d'oeuvres? Will anyone come, or will they all be packing and/or leaving? Should we reschedule it?

We haven't needed to evacuate since Katrina. A few times, we've thought we would need to leave, but fickle weather patterns kept us in place. Not until Gustav have we seriously begun to hold our collective breath and pack our collective belongings.

Evacuations before Katrina were usually made with reasonable concern and mild anxiety. Now, tensions are running high and many folks can't help but fear the worst. Odds are against another Katrina, we know this. But we're watching for the slightest tremor in the forecast track.

On Wednesday we became nervous. People began asking each other, "Are you leaving? Where are you going? When are you going?" Hurried phone calls to hotels revealed that Vicksburg was already booked up and the closest available room was in Philadelphia, Miss. Rumors that Jim Cantore had checked into a hotel in Biloxi lightened the mood momentarily. (Cantore is the Storm Stud; the Hurricane Hunk; the guy we don't want anywhere near us.)

We are guessing when evacuations might be ordered — earlier, this time? One friend says he will not wait. He and his family had to swim out of their house last time, and won't do that again. Another friend is worried about her corn fields, which she lost in Katrina, and her racehorse, which is in Breaux Bridge, and will have to be moved as well. My father phoned to check on our plans, and mentioned that he will be moving his boats, trailers, tractors and tools to a relative's property north of the interstate. This will be no small feat. Evacuation is a lot of work when you have time to plan for it correctly.

Personally, I am wondering what to take this time. I've just recently begun to feel reasonably equipped for everyday living, having reacquired the sundries of a household over the past three years. Oh well, that's just stuff. Losing those things is a hassle, but isn't horrible. Again we gather the pictures and personal mementos. We are taking many of our musical instruments to higher ground north of the interstate. They can't all go with us, but we can at least give them a fighting chance. I am puzzling over how to evacuate our new cat, which is an outdoor cat and doesn't get along with our elderly indoor cats. We can't just leave her. So I will hopefully be able to buy a new cat carrier and I pray that all three will fit in our car and that the little darlings won't harass each other on our way to wherever we go. What we do with them when we get there, I will think about later.