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The coming of Fay made this a tension-filled week.

I had to shop for extra batteries, water and food as well as secure my house.

Work was on overload to get everything done in case it turned out to be a very serious storm.

Watching television increased my nervousness by constantly seeing the storm watch, and I knew I needed something to help me if the power went out.

By the time the storm hit I needed a natural stress reliever.

Poetry works for some people. So I stopped by Borders Books Music Movies & Cafe and found “How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry” by Edward Hirsch (Harcourt Inc, $15). This book makes poetry easy.

I continued to browse and I saw so many books I liked. I couldn’t resist a book by Oprah’s favorite writer, “The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou” (Random House, $25.95). Having lived in Huntington, N.Y., I’m so familiar with Walt Whitman (he lived there and we even have a Walt Whitman Mall). I bought “Ode to Walt Whitman and Other Poems” by Frederick Garcia Lorca, (City Light Books, $13.95). Other authors that I also considered were poets Robert Frost and T.S. Eliot, whose “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats” is the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, “Cats.”

I’ve knitted most of my life and have found it to be a great mental soother. Plus, it’s easy to take with you, and you can do it while watching television or talking to friends. If you don’t know how to knit, try “I Taught Myself Knitting” kit by Boye ($5.99) at Jo-Ann Fabrics. The kit includes three patterns, needles, instruction and diagrams. There is also a “Learn to Knit Kit” by Caron ($14.99) that comes with a DVD, yarn and needles to make a scarf.

Something I always wanted was a herb garden outside my kitchen. It seems like it would be so serene. I visited Driftwood Garden Center and found four-inch spearmint, rosemary, orange mint, parsley, oregano, sorrel, basil and thyme. ($2.59). You can also get terra cotta pots from 12 to 20 inches and costing from $6.49 to $39.99 This nursery also has eggplants, tomatoes and green pepper plants ($2.50), if you get ambitious and want to start a vegetable garden. There is something to be said about getting your hands into the earth and relieving tension.

So relax by doing something just for yourself.

Where to shop

-- Borders Books Music Movies & Cafe, 10600 U.S. 41 N., Naples, 596-7199

-- Driftwood Garden Center, 5051 U.S. 41 N., Naples, 261-9328 and 20071 U.S. 41 S., Estero, 947-9676

-- Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, 6428 Naples Blvd., Naples, 594-0389

Ike Likes It

My husband loves ripping opening a bag of M&M’s and throwing a handful of the colorful candy into his mouth. He likes the crunch of the coating before he gets to the soft chocolate inside. This week he picked up the Premium M&M’s ($3.99 for six ounces) at Target to compare them to his old-time favorite.

Verdict: Ike didn’t know if the larger-sized, oval-shaped, jeweled-colored premiums would be as enjoyable to eat as the regular small round ones. He was not sure what to make of the upscale flavors of raspberry almond, triple chocolate, mocha, mint and chocolate almond.

“It wasn’t as much fun shaking them out of the box, but the larger size mixed with grown-up flavors showed imagination on the part of the Mars Company,” Ike says. “The price is a little high, but I like the idea that the company isn’t standing on its laurels and keeps re-inventing itself.”