Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Hurricane Sandy




I hope that all of you in Hurricane Sandy’s path, your families, and your homes came through safely! Sandy hit my corner of the country with winds that gusted to over 85 miles per hours throughout the night of October 29th. The town in which I live took a direct hit, and I was without electricity, landline, etc. from Monday night (Oct. 29th) until Saturday night (Nov. 3rd). Then, even though the electricity was restored, I didn't have TV, Internet, or phone until about an hour ago.

There are still many trees and some power lines down all over town. One of my beautiful huge pines out back went down and took out the neighbor's fence and my arbor, but there was no major damage to property. As I look at news photos and at my neighbors’ properties, I feel very blessed.

I have a generator, and that was a big help with the refrigerator and sump pump (though we didn't need the latter). We used a propane heater in the living room during the nights and on Wednesday an electrician neighbor came over and hooked up the generator to the furnace so there was central heat. Gas, however, was hard to find, and we had to wait in lines for up to four hours to fill the red plastic gas containers for the generator. We alternated between the generator and the propane heater as much as possible.

Chaucey, bless his little furry-ness, got through it all without even noticing that anything was amiss!

This has been like living in another century, but the sun is shining today, and now with all the utilities back, things are much more normal. Again, I hope you're all safe!

I've missed sharing poetry with you here on the blog, and I'll catch up with your comments soon. Please "stay tuned" — I'll post a new prompt this coming Saturday. Thank you again for your caring and for your concern!


(Photo: My pine tree and the empty space where the arbor was.)


11 comments:

  1. So glad you're safe! I was concerned when you didn't post on Saturday.

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    1. Thanks so much for your concern, Rich! There will be a new prompt this Saturday!

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  2. But despite all its pains,
    Despite the sadness
    That is with us day and night

    Despite the wind
    The rainy weather
    And the cyclone
    It is love, my son

    That will be forever the best of fates
    There is a woman in your life, my son
    Her eyes are so beautiful
    Glory to God
    Her mouth and her laughter
    Are full of roses and melodies

    From THE FORTUNE TELLER by Nizzar Qabbani

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    1. Wonderful, Jago! And so perfect for the past two weeks around here! Many thanks!

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    2. Jago/Ales, the last image is stunning, and, yes, love forever the best of fates. Thanks again for the poem!

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  3. Adele, Nickie and I send you our best and hope that things are better now. We have some interesting weathers here in England, but I've never experienced a hurricane. So sad that you lost your beautiful pine tree. Perhaps you will replant in spring.

    I'm looking forward to your next prompt!

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    1. Thanks so much, Jamie and Nickie! It's been a bit of a siege here. The power is all back as of yesterday, but we're still not getting much mail as a couple of the sorting facilities were flooded and a lot of mail was either lost of damaged. The strangest part of the experience was being so out of touch with people in the outside world. The age of technology has made that seem such a remote possibility, and it was a real eye-opener to experience no power for several days. I'll get this week's prompt posted shortly. Thanks again!

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  4. Sounds like the past two weeks here on Long Island! I'm just getting back to my writing after a nature enforced storm break and checking my favorite sites. Glad you are safe.

    Perhaps a poem will arrive,
    later,
    for now it's mostly prayers,
    arriving unbidden,
    on my lips,
    day and night.

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    1. Thanks, Barbara! So glad you're safe too! I heard that Long Island was hit hard. I can't say that I much liked the "nature enforced storm break" (as you so aptly termed it), and it's great to be back.

      Thank you so much for posting your poem—it captures the feeling of those days perfectly.

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    2. Thanks for sharing, Barbara! This is a wonderful poem. As Adele noted, it captures the feeling perfectly.

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    3. Ditto to Jamie's comment. We saw some of the devastation on television here in the UK. I'm so sorry for all the terrible destruction and hope things are getting back to normal. Thanks, Barbara,for sharing your poem with us.

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