Riding out Hurricane Sandy and what it taught me

The northeast was hit last week by a storm like no other.  Having had news of the possibility of Hurricane Sandy making an unprecedented left turn and barreling into New York and New Jersey, my husband and I began to prepare.  We waited on a long line at 3:30 am to purchase a generator, afraid of historic flooding. We brought in every piece of deck furniture, tied down our grill, brought in firewood, filled up our cars with gas and stocked our refrigerator. Then, we made sure we have lots of batteries, filled op both bathtubs, bought lots of bottled water and canned foods and then waited.

We prepared for the worse while hoping for the best.

Last Monday afternoon the winds and the rain came.  Having numerous trees on our property we worried and bantered about what might be worse, the high winds or the rains.  During Hurricane Irene last August we lost power for three hours.  Since the ground was already saturated, the water table rose and rose and once our power went out so did our sump pump.  We mopped water for three hours and then miraculously, our power was restored.  Last summer we removed several dead pine trees knowing that the right storm would bring them down, along with lots of property damage as well.

We really tried to anticipate everything.

Then the storm came.

We never lost power…just blinks here and there.

Our local grocery store remained open.

We considered ourselves very lucky for on the surface it seemed that life would go on as normal.

Then we began to see the images of Stated Island, New York city and our beloved Jersey shore.

We saw our governor on television assuring us everything would be alright despite the devastation to our state.

My husband and I sat by the fire and read books and made meals and I was able to actually work on my second novel without the distracts of my regular life.

I found that as always, my friends came through, my family stayed in touch as best they could and  that my husband and I are a wonderful team. We enjoy each others company and relished the time we had off together although it was like being sick during a vacation – lots of time but no where to go.

Having to ration gas has made me rethink every move I make these days.

Not wasting a drop of food because who knows…when the supermarket runs out who knows when the next delivery will be?

The world around me was suddenly very quiet and I must admit I love quiet.

I cleaned out my desk, closets and I have lots of clothing to give away.  I am making my donation to hurricane relief and figuring out what I can do as a resident of this great state of New Jersey to help others right here at home.

The devastation now has a name and a face and it is my home state.  The newspapers tell us that we will rebuild, come back and live to see a new day here in New Jersey.  I believe all of this is possible because human beings are resilient, determined and these days, this human being is very grateful.