Here’s what the National Hurricane Center says about preparing for a hurricane. Don’t forget to tuck your important papers someplace waterproof and close at hand. The NHC recommends “insurance, medical records, bank account numbers, Social Security card,”  but I’d add (as applicable) adoption papers, parentage orders, children’s birth certificates, powers of attorney, etc.

Be safe, everyone!

If you’re looking for real science resources for your children, check out Science News for Kids, an online science site for older elementary and middle school students.

As always, more videos with positive images of LGBT families at the Mombian YouTube channel.

Fall, to me, has always signaled new beginnings. Too many years in academia, I suppose, and now a son in the educational system. I also love the foods of fall, from fresh apples to savory casseroles to home-baked pumpkin pie.

What are your favorite fall activities or foods?

On June 9, 1909, Alice Huyler Ramsey set off on her successful journey to become the first woman to drive across the United States from coast to coast. Three other women accompanied her, friends who didn’t themselves drive, but who presumably helped change tires the 11 times they blew during the trip. Ramsey later became the first woman to be inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame.

She chronicled her journey in the book Veil, Duster, and Tire Iron, now republished as Alice’s Drive. Her best line, though, is perhaps the one she gave to Ms. magazine in 1975:

“Good driving has nothing to do with sex. It’s all above the collar.”

In honor of the 100th anniversary of Alice’s journey, a father-daughter team is now attempting to recreate it in a replica car, “with multiple events along the way to pay homage to women’s accomplishments during the last century.” They also hope to raise money in support of Women for Women International, which helps women survivors of war rebuild their lives. You can follow them via their blog or on Twitter.

Still locust-free here in the Bay State.

Why should anyone aside from Bostonians care? Because Romeo and Juliet are actually a pair of females who laid eggs and attempted to care for them together, as the Boston Globe reported, and I discussed, a few years back. The eggs were unfertilized, alas, and there was no friendly keeper like And Tango Makes Three‘s Mr. Gramzay to give them a viable egg to hatch.

The official announcement from the mayor’s office this year about the swan ceremony is coy about their gender, doing the “no pronoun” dance that so many of us know so well. A missed opportunity to attract marrying same-sex couples to our state to wed, I say. We’ve got competition now.

If you happen to be visiting Boston over the summer, however, take your kids to the Public Garden to see the Make Way for Ducklings statue and ride the Swan Boats, while you take photos of the “lesbian swans.” (There’s also an enormous wading pool and a playground at nearby Boston Common.)

Concerned that the state’s new same-sex marriage law would infringe on religious liberties, the Connecticut Catholic Conference today proposed some broad exemptions which it believes are necessary to protect those rights.

The law does not require Catholic priests—or any other clergy member—to preside over same-sex weddings.

However, the church is seeking additional exemptions. For instance, it wants to ensure that a florist opposed to gay marriage on religious grounds not be forced to sell flowers to a same-sex couple.

As my brother (who is straight but has a sense of humor) said to me, though, “Does anyone really believe that there are any florists who are opposed to gay marriage?”

(H/T, David Hart at Pam’s.)

Now, the helpful zookeepers have decided the two birds should formalize their union. They arranged a wedding for the two lovebirds, complete with “spring fish” at the reception. No word on where they are registered.