So, how did you fare in Monday’s storms?

We lost a beautiful fir on the corner of our Meadowlake lot. After Larry stripped it bare of its pretty limbs, I thought about putting a few of my plastic pink flamingos on and in front of what is left to create a unique piece of yard art.

Hey, that’s the joy of living in an older neighborhood – none of those silly HOA rules to contend with.

Seriously, despite all of downed trees and power lines, we were lucky. Other towns and cities that also felt the brunt of the storm that stretched halfway across the country Monday and into Tuesday left lives shattered, businesses destroyed and a lot more destruction than we experienced.

Of course, don’t tell that to some of my neighbors in the back of Meadowlake who still didn’t have power when they went to sleep Tuesday night.

BHP reader Kathleen Young – one of those affected – has kept an ongoing Facebook log since the lights went out at her house.

“Hello NES can you hear our plea? 31 hours???,” she posted at 8 p.m. last night.

Hope Kathleen – and everyone else who went to bed in still in the dark -- wakes up this morning to more than sunshine, though we’ll be happy to keep that around too.

'Learning cottages' stick around 
The Brentwood Planning Commission approved six items on its consent agenda in record time Tuesday night. These are the routine, non-controversial items that the staff has recommend and that usually don’t need extra discussion.

Thought I’d bring to your attention one item on the list, however: No. 6, Extension to previously approved site plan – portable classrooms, Ravenwood High School.

The operative word here is “extension” not expansion.

In June 2009, the commission approved the set-up of eight modular classrooms (or “Learning Cottages” as we like to call them here) for two years. Unfortunately they’re still needed, thus the request for a two-year extension. Current enrollment is 1,930 students at the school built for 1800.

Let’s hope the rezoning plan approved last year coupled with a new northeast county high school in coming years makes a third extension unneeded.