Mom's winter home is in Malverne, Long Island, and nobody's home. Not sure if any of the neighbors have a key. I heard that taping the windows is an old wives' tale. Should I be worried? Any suggestions?

Mom is up in Gloucester right now with her store in Rockport, right on the water, and we might be heading there to batten down the hatches and then take her back with us to Boston if the sh*t hits the fan. They've been talking about evacuating Gloucester and Rockport...

As for me, in Boston, we live next door to a cemetery so I'm not worried about flooding. I think it's pretty likely my rickety old shed will implode, which I would not be too upset about since it would be nice to have our insurance pay for a new one. But I'd cry if all my bikes that are inside that shed got crushed, so they're going into the basement along with the outdoor furniture. We cancelled our paddling trip to Maine this weekend -- not going to want to drive back to Boston on Sunday in these conditions.