Hurricane Sandy
At the moment, I am listening to the alarm large trucks sound when backing up; I have heard more than a few police and ambulance sirens already. Though early, the pie has just come out of the oven and I think I may soon hop into the shower; as I fear we may be losing power any moment now.
A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting with my sister, in her Maine living room, with Kate and the kitties. Suddenly, there is a shaking and rattling of the windows. The three of us, though all born in Ohio, we are also all California ex-pats; we look at each other, and say no way – that cannot be an earthquake. Yes, indeed it was, and centered about 20 miles from where we were. My sister’s neighbors, who all go out into the streets, thought a car had run into their houses – all of their houses.
Yesterday, Sunday, October, 28, 2012, still in Maine, and still at my sister’s house, we begin to hear the stories of Hurricane Sandy, which I had been following the week before, wanting to make sure it, would not hit our house, in Florida. As Floridians, Kate and I look at each other and say it is only a Category 1 Hurricane, we have been in a 4, maybe even a 5; and Sandy is hundreds of miles away, and will not land in New England – what is going on? We head to Massachusetts, to take my Mother out to dinner and go to church, we are even thinking of doing some shopping. There is a slight mist in the air, and there are signs on the highways in Massachusetts warning of severe weather; still we are incredulous. Nevertheless, prepare for a Hurricane mode strikes; we go food shopping and make sure we have water.
This morning, I wake up to a gloomy day, and put a turkey into the electric roaster. I take Merry out for a walk, and realize that maybe everyone else in the country is right. The winds are picking up, and the rain is definitely steady and growing stronger by the minute. I start to pick-up autumn leaves, as I soon realize that it may well be that by tomorrow all of the beautiful painted trees will be completely stripped bare. I should have been collecting leaves earlier – what was I thinking?
I bring Merry back into the house; and Kate and I decide to walk along the river, as we so often do these days. Our walk is cut drastically short. We rush home, watching as pieces of a roof are blown off, and are dancing down the street. The police turn around, when they see us walking, and Kate prepares to tell them that we are from Florida, and are just out picking up leaves – my leaf bag is full.
As the sun starts to set, out of my current bedroom window, I see bright, circulating lights, attached to bucket trucks, pulling into the parking lot next door. The gregarious line men, from the electric company, park close to one another, jump out of their trucks and greet each other. They are going to get a bite to eat, as they prepare for a long night.
Kate makes us turkey sandwiches, which I eat with Bryan Norcross, of the Weather Channel, who used to be on our local CBS station in Miami; and saw us through Hurricane Wilma, now many years ago. People have already started losing power in Maine, though Sandy has yet to make landfall, the power company trucks are pulling out. I hope the men were able to eat before rushing out into what is now a dark, raining night. I will let you know how the night plays out, thus that is not all for now. I hope you are safe.
