Thoughts during the apocalypse, Part 20.

The windmill, she be listing to port, matey!

So, as if we didn't have enough to worry about during the ongoing COVID-19 panic, now we have to keep our eyes peeled to the immediate area surrounding our homes for flying debris and falling trees while we're in the midst of a springtime storm with hurricane-force winds.

And wouldn't you know it? Just as I typed that, a fire truck and a pickup truck from the municipal electric department just pulled up in front of the house across the street. There's actually another house behind the one that fronts the street, and I think they may have lost their main power wire. But we're still safe and sound here.

Indeed, I had to postpone a planned recording of my next podcast today because my guest is without power at her home. It's not a problem. The main thing is that she and her family are safe. We'll record Episode 20 tomorrow; it's not like I have a heck of a lot else to do otherwise.

At this point, I have to give due props to the Mansfield Municipal Electric Department. I moved back to this town five years ago, and I can count on one hand (with three fingers to spare) the number of power interruptions I've had. And one of those two lasted only seconds. But in a way, that doesn't surprise me. I lived here for the first 17 years of my life and another 15 after college, and the performance of the electric department was exemplary. So it was also for the 11 years I lived in nearby North Attleboro, which also has a municipal electric department of its own.

Contrast that to my 12 years as a Foxboro resident, in which my apartment complex was served by National Grid (or whatever it's being called these days). You may recall that we had a really nasty October storm during that time, and the power was out in my apartment for five full days -- and I had no choice but to occupy a friend's vacation house in North Falmouth, where power had been restored much more rapidly.

So far, no damage here. My mother had the foresight about 20 years ago to cut down the last three tall maples in the yard and thus remove whatever threat they posed to the house. There are a couple of evergreens on the north-facing fence that have grown a little too tall and probably should be trimmed back, and an old dogwood in the front yard is growing at a slight tilt, and I'd really hate to lose that one. It blooms into white blossoms that last from May to August, and it's absolutely gorgeous.

There are a few trees of minor concern in the neighbors' yards, and one tall and dead maple regularly deposits fragments in my backyard. Eventually, it will run out of said fragments and just fall into the pond. The only other issues so far were having to race after my lawn chairs as they headed for the driveway under their own power, and then straightening the little windmill in the backyard.

I guess we just have to buckle down and ride out this one -- kind of what we've been doing for the last four weeks, just for different reasons.

On to other topics to distract me from watching whitecaps form on the pond:

** Early this afternoon, about 25 members of the Patriots Hall of Fame Nominating Committee met electronically to vote for the three players or coaches we believe should be on the ballot for the fans to pick one. Our votes are weighted in order of importance, so our first-place vote has a larger value than the second-place vote, and so on.

I am enjoined from revealing any of the details of the meeting and the discussions that took place, but I can reveal my own conclusions, so here is the ballot I submitted:

Parcells: My No. 1 pick

1. Bill Parcells. I continue to reject the notion that fans should not vote for the Tuna because he left the Patriots after four years for the Jets. Most of the people that espouse that premise don't know if a football is puffed or stuffed. If you had been there (as I was) and you know how totally disorganized the entire Patriots organization was before James Busch Orthwein hired Parcells, there's no way you can't recognize what an impact he made, and how it extended so far beyond the results on the field. I am totally convinced that if not for Parcells' sense of organization, this discussion would not be taking place here. It would be taking place in the shadow of the Gateway Arch between other writers and other team officials that would be running the St. Louis Stallions. And Tom Brady would probably now be the manager of the Washington Nationals, following a mediocre career as a catcher for the Montreal Expos (which, or course, became the Nats).

Seymour should win.

2. Richard Seymour. A lot of us feared last year that Seymour would make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he'd make it into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and that would have looked pretty silly. However, that may actually happen this year if fans don't vote for the talented defensive end when the ballot goes online. Yeah, he didn't leave here under the best of circumstances. He pissed off Bill Belichick somehow -- remember when he was benched for returning late from his grandfather's funeral? -- and once you get on BB's shit list, you wind up in Oakland or some other god-forsaken outpost. But there's little doubt that Seymour should make it in on his fourth try at the fans' vote. He was a game-changing player at a position where the Belichick-era Patriots have not been particularly strong, and fans really need to recognize that before they're made to look stupid by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Wes Welker was my No. 3 pick.

3. Wes Welker. It's the first year of eligibility for the franchise's all-time leading receiver, and I opted for him over another first-timer, guard Logan Mankins, and four-time bridesmaid Mike Vrabel. Welker basically invented the slot receiver role as it's used in New England (and Julian Edelman is a worthy successor), and as I said during my brief presentation, he was always willing to put his best foot forward. OK, I admit that was a reference to Welker's famed press conference before a game against the Jets, when he tried to sneak in several "foot" references as a tweak at then-coach Rex Ryan, whose foot fetish made it into the papers at the same time. Best. Press. Conference. Ever.

I also asked that efforts be made to convince team owner Robert Kraft to put Parcells in the Hall as a "contributor," as he did with former owner Billy Sullivan and beloved broadcaster Gil Santos. My reasoning is that both Parcells and Kraft are 79 years old and it would be better and more meaningful for all parties concerned for this to happen while both are still alive. Alas, I got scolded by Patriots' VP-Media Relations Stacey James for making a suggestion about changing the procedures during the meeting of the committee, which I didn't really think I was doing. I just thought I was offering a reasonable solution to a conundrum.

Always the bad boy, that's me. I should have jokingly nominated former media relations director Tom "Moose" Hoffman right afterward. But hey, Stacey is a busy man and he's working very hard to organize all this under incredibly trying circumstances. And besides, he got me a cake when I retired.

By the way, we also picked the All-Decade Team for 2010-19. I have a feeling that maybe one or two of the players I picked at certain positions may not make the final cut, but as I said during the meeting, I tend to recognize the Patriots' dynasty as two different eras -- the three championships from 2000-09 and the three from 2010-19. And as a result, I leaned toward players that contributed more to the latter dynasty than maybe one or two that might have been better players, but were already honored on the 2000-09 All-Decade Team.

But as I also said, I will bow to the wisdom of my peers when the results become public.

** That's about it for today. My left knee is killing me and I actually had back spasms last night -- what's up with that??? -- but the temperature was a solid 95.7 upon waking and there are no sniffles at all today. I'm just falling apart from old age, I guess, and not the coronavirus. See you all tomorrow.