It is now almost three p.m. on the Atlantic Seaboard of the United States of America. For northern MA, the storm is blowing its last gasps; leaving us with waves of standing water. For little Gardner, MA, the big maple tree I grew up with, in the backyard, has withstood another surprise "attack" by Mother Nature. I'm sure it's pissed off, as any child is, after being "whipped". (Especially such a hard-working and good-hearted child as this maple...offering squirrels sanctuary, birds homes, and shade for all the humans playing beneath her.) But parents are often cruel, in the guise of doing what is best. So, perhaps Hurricane Irene, the lusty aunt Mother Nature sent to straighten us out, is only carrying out her duties, as assigned. In any case, the maple tree and the Minns family are drying out, little worse for the wear.
What remains surprising to me is how over-wrought the press and politicos were, as the storm approached. This is New England, after all. We survive countless unnamed ice and snowstorms throughout the winter. (And winter often lasts more than six months at a time...) Just this past spring, tornadoes ripped all along inner New England, causing permanent FEMA offices to sprout up like mushrooms. (My brother, Bud, is staffing one of those roving bands of merry men, even as I type this up.) So, we are no strangers to wild weather. What made this storm so different?
Perhaps because it came upon the heels of a 5.8 earthquake (which I didn't feel, accustomed as I am to living on the faultline of Wilshire Blvd., in downtown L.A., for so many years). Quite a surprise to these East Coast natives! Or, is is the return to our Puritan roots, despite increasingly diverse cultures around us? (Is the END really closer than it was, say, a few months ago--really, really closer? If so, I'm going to be severely upset that The Aliens didn't at least clear up the mystery before God closes the curtains...)
Perhaps, as Republicans and Democrats wrestle with each other over champagne brunches and golf holidays on the islands, they are trying to take our minds off the stagnant unemployment rates and rising poverty? Or, is racism still so institutionalized, that the unveiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, in Washington, D.C., was so threatening a display, that the mad scientists in our meteorlogical environs cooked up a hurricane menace to shut down the Capitol celebration? Or, was it just practice for getting ready for what may occur on a new 9/11 anniversary?
Slow news day doesn't cut it as an explanation. The world is afire--both good and bad--there is plenty to report. Perhaps because there is a lot of financial and political "clout" on the East Coast, we got special attention--unlike the South, where hurricanes are the price one is supposed to pay for mild temps and loads of sunshine; the South, where poverty and class stratification is so wide and "expected"...hmmmm.
I can't help but muse, as I look out from my second floor window, at gusts of 60 mile an hour wet spray and blown maple leaves. Yesterday, Wal-Mart and Hannaford and Stop and Shop were crammed with people clutching baskets; running wildly up and down aisles. Water, batteries, milk, diapers, toilet paper and canned food was disappearing as if we were in the middle of a war zone.( I suppose matches, candles, kerosene, propane, pet food and extra first aid supplies, too, were being scarfed up.) But people were laughing; almost in a holiday mood, as they grappled with fluorescent lanterns and propane stoves...
I made my way to school supplies--tomorrow is the first day of Gardner High School--and my new "first day" as a full-time student teacher...again. (Quite frankly, Hurricane Irene paled in comparison to how I was going to scrape together a hundred bucks to pay for my own "school supplies". It's almost more expensive being a "student - teacher" than it is, being a student...) I made my way home, to iron my clothes for the school week ahead--before the power went out (as was predicted). I checked all my e-mails and blogs and called friends I was worried about. By nightfall, there was only a wee bit of rain--a few spattering sprinkles.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was a half-hour delayed, because of "storm watch" on t.v. And while I am sensitive that nine people, so far, over five states, lost their lives because of storm influences, I wonder if something else might not have scooped them off the Earth, without the help of Hurricane Irene? (As I am wondering this, Ann comes to my room and informs me: "Two gigantic branches just came down on the front lawn--crushed the rhododendrons flat! Guess we'll need a chainsaw, after all!")
I fell asleep, finally, still waiting for the inevitable. When I woke up, a hard rain was indeed falling.
I lifted my shades and saw the maple tree flailing in gusts that had to be 60 mph, as predicted. But, the power was on. Dad was listening to the news as he made coffee and cooked bacon for Sunday breakfast, downstairs. Someone was in the shower;I knew we had water, too. (The dog was nervous, but she doesn't like any kind of wind.) I checked my Subaru in the street: all was well. No power-lines down; no fallen trees across her top. I checked my kayak out back. Still chained to the garage, still covered and safe. The entire house was intact. Cozy. Not even a basement flooding, as Dad had worried about after the terrible forecasts on t.v.
Now, between gusts, neighborhood cats are out, patrolling, checking for wind-flung birds, stunned just enough to be easy to catch. Squirrels are running up and down the fence. I can hear the bluejays screaming that the bird feeders are up and running, and my sister Ann has just tossed out some peanuts, lest anyone go hungry...
Am I disappointed that disaster has been averted? No! Do I think that a bigger disaster may come, now that the media has begun to sound like "Chicken Little", and we will be taken unawares? Perhaps. Can we do much with any of these musings?
Duck.
Cover.
Pray.
Make sure your toilet paper and bottled water supplies are adequate.
Be kind.
I'll let you know if I think of anything else.
Peace. Out.
minns
What remains surprising to me is how over-wrought the press and politicos were, as the storm approached. This is New England, after all. We survive countless unnamed ice and snowstorms throughout the winter. (And winter often lasts more than six months at a time...) Just this past spring, tornadoes ripped all along inner New England, causing permanent FEMA offices to sprout up like mushrooms. (My brother, Bud, is staffing one of those roving bands of merry men, even as I type this up.) So, we are no strangers to wild weather. What made this storm so different?
Perhaps because it came upon the heels of a 5.8 earthquake (which I didn't feel, accustomed as I am to living on the faultline of Wilshire Blvd., in downtown L.A., for so many years). Quite a surprise to these East Coast natives! Or, is is the return to our Puritan roots, despite increasingly diverse cultures around us? (Is the END really closer than it was, say, a few months ago--really, really closer? If so, I'm going to be severely upset that The Aliens didn't at least clear up the mystery before God closes the curtains...)
Perhaps, as Republicans and Democrats wrestle with each other over champagne brunches and golf holidays on the islands, they are trying to take our minds off the stagnant unemployment rates and rising poverty? Or, is racism still so institutionalized, that the unveiling of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, in Washington, D.C., was so threatening a display, that the mad scientists in our meteorlogical environs cooked up a hurricane menace to shut down the Capitol celebration? Or, was it just practice for getting ready for what may occur on a new 9/11 anniversary?
Slow news day doesn't cut it as an explanation. The world is afire--both good and bad--there is plenty to report. Perhaps because there is a lot of financial and political "clout" on the East Coast, we got special attention--unlike the South, where hurricanes are the price one is supposed to pay for mild temps and loads of sunshine; the South, where poverty and class stratification is so wide and "expected"...hmmmm.
I can't help but muse, as I look out from my second floor window, at gusts of 60 mile an hour wet spray and blown maple leaves. Yesterday, Wal-Mart and Hannaford and Stop and Shop were crammed with people clutching baskets; running wildly up and down aisles. Water, batteries, milk, diapers, toilet paper and canned food was disappearing as if we were in the middle of a war zone.( I suppose matches, candles, kerosene, propane, pet food and extra first aid supplies, too, were being scarfed up.) But people were laughing; almost in a holiday mood, as they grappled with fluorescent lanterns and propane stoves...
I made my way to school supplies--tomorrow is the first day of Gardner High School--and my new "first day" as a full-time student teacher...again. (Quite frankly, Hurricane Irene paled in comparison to how I was going to scrape together a hundred bucks to pay for my own "school supplies". It's almost more expensive being a "student - teacher" than it is, being a student...) I made my way home, to iron my clothes for the school week ahead--before the power went out (as was predicted). I checked all my e-mails and blogs and called friends I was worried about. By nightfall, there was only a wee bit of rain--a few spattering sprinkles.
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE was a half-hour delayed, because of "storm watch" on t.v. And while I am sensitive that nine people, so far, over five states, lost their lives because of storm influences, I wonder if something else might not have scooped them off the Earth, without the help of Hurricane Irene? (As I am wondering this, Ann comes to my room and informs me: "Two gigantic branches just came down on the front lawn--crushed the rhododendrons flat! Guess we'll need a chainsaw, after all!")
I fell asleep, finally, still waiting for the inevitable. When I woke up, a hard rain was indeed falling.
I lifted my shades and saw the maple tree flailing in gusts that had to be 60 mph, as predicted. But, the power was on. Dad was listening to the news as he made coffee and cooked bacon for Sunday breakfast, downstairs. Someone was in the shower;I knew we had water, too. (The dog was nervous, but she doesn't like any kind of wind.) I checked my Subaru in the street: all was well. No power-lines down; no fallen trees across her top. I checked my kayak out back. Still chained to the garage, still covered and safe. The entire house was intact. Cozy. Not even a basement flooding, as Dad had worried about after the terrible forecasts on t.v.
Now, between gusts, neighborhood cats are out, patrolling, checking for wind-flung birds, stunned just enough to be easy to catch. Squirrels are running up and down the fence. I can hear the bluejays screaming that the bird feeders are up and running, and my sister Ann has just tossed out some peanuts, lest anyone go hungry...
Am I disappointed that disaster has been averted? No! Do I think that a bigger disaster may come, now that the media has begun to sound like "Chicken Little", and we will be taken unawares? Perhaps. Can we do much with any of these musings?
Duck.
Cover.
Pray.
Make sure your toilet paper and bottled water supplies are adequate.
Be kind.
I'll let you know if I think of anything else.
Peace. Out.
minns
