Some wind and rain at the beach...

Tuesday Aug 4, 8 am.
I just watched a drone level video of the area of the Outer Banks island that was the landfall for the center of Isaias early this morning...or maybe last night.

I'm glad I had a pill that helped me go to sleep last night, while thinking of how my son and his wife and children had driven from their home in Ohio to the Outer Banks of North Carolina this last weekend. Just in time for a hurricane.

I haven't spoken to them. I just saw a couple of posts on Facebook that that's where they went, at this particular time. It's a good thing I didn't speak with them, because I would have blown my top. As it was, my anxiety level was right off the roof.  And fortunately none of the roofs were blown off literally.

I remember how long it took to repair the one road which was the only route to towns around Orakoke...after another hurricane.

Here's the video, where you can see all the sand that was washed up with the storm surge at Oak Island. And the cars just swished any which way, as well as washing machines...moved by waves of the Atlantic Ocean.

https://www.youtube.com/watch

I hope the three grandchildren enjoyed the beach. I am so grateful that they were alright. I really don't know what I'll say to my son when I finally speak with him. It's going to take some alcohol probably to help me get through that conversation.

Then a friend of mine said she included this adventure on her bucket list, to go to the beach during a hurricane.  Oh dear. I'm a bit amazed that people would risk their lives for this kind of terrible thrill...or is it just seeking horror?  Thrill by the terrible destructive force of nature...geese, no thanks.

On my 69th

I had completely forgotten about how Washington DC was first hit by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake which occurred in Virginia on August 23rd, 2011.  Other family members in CT felt the earthquake, but I didn't myself while I was visiting in CT.

That was my birthday, when I turned 69, and right after that, Hurricane Irene hit the northeast. The news and weather were there, but lots of other things were happening that took precedence, like children, dinner, celebrations.

The earthquake did have an influence on me.  I've mentioned before that I had originally planned to see the museums in DC on my way meandering home.

When I found the exits with no gas, no facilities, and sometimes closed due to flooding under the interstates in NJ and PA, I decided to not compete with those who really needed the motel rooms around DC.  They were also probably there because of the earthquake.

My fellow blogger (Here) mentioned how the Washington Monument is currently sheathed in scaffolding to repair damage from the earthquake.

I still think about some of the events which happened in the year I before turning 70.  My friends out in Washington state are still having difficulties with the people they work for.  It has become so extreme I'm encouraging them to start to pack up and plan to get out of that toxic environment.  I find it hard that they have stayed this long, but sometimes a free apartment in exchange for work that seems easy to do can be enticing.

But like I've found many times, when the pain gets so intense that it intrudes on everything in your life, you take whatever steps are possible to relieve it.  I also tend to endure a lot before I notice how all my friends and family are wondering why.  I think inertia is the most probable reason.

I have broken some of my inertia today.  How about you?

After Irene passed

August, 2011.  Simsbury, CT

The internet service at The Consultant's house was not consistent, and with lots of little kids around, we weren't watching much of national news and weather.  But I'd been aware of Hurricane Irene as I drove north, and she'd hit the Outer Banks of NC on Aug 27th. 

Then the next day Irene plowed through Brooklyn, and started flooding all the rivers and low lying areas up into New England.

Many places had high winds and electric power outages.  That's what happened in West Simsbury, CT.

The only source of information, besides cell phones with limited batteries.

The power was out, it was daylight on the 28th, and the children were used to being entertained with TV's or computers.

So it was a challenge for the three adults in the house.  The Care Giver used her cell phone to talk or text other friends and relatives, trying to find an open Duncan Donuts, since we couldn't even make coffee.  Our crank powered radio had lots of options, but the weather reports didn't really say much that we wanted to hear.  The storm had passed just about dawn, when the power went out.  Some roads were flooded.  The thing that happens in these situations is that you never know how long it's going to last.  In this case, many people had a week without power, but we were lucky.

The Consultant after a couple of hours of no electrical power

By dusk, we decided to drive out and look around, finding very few places open due to no electricity almost everywhere.  One gas station looked open, I think, and by going near the airport we actually found a Duncan Donuts to have some bagels for supper.

We didn't really care what we looked like, since most of the mirrors at home didn't have power to see ourselves.

We went to bed pretty early that night.  And when we started hearing about the flooding in VT and NH, it seemed pretty surprising.  Our flooding had been such that a few streets were closed, but nothing like they had.

On Aug 29 I wrote to my friends:
<Yep, you were right about no electricity here...22 hours of it.

Not so bad except for 3 little girls who are used to being electronically entertained constantly.

Internet is low, so this is just to let you know I'm getting on the road again this morning.

<Sun is shining, and we're all hoping any flooding won't affect I-81, which I'll be on for the next day or 2.

<We didn't have any bad storm here, and only little bits of trees blew around.

<Thanks for your bubble of protection, which I know helped mine.

 

Next email, Aug 30, 9:40 am

<Hi girls...

<I'm having breakfast in bed (muffin and coffee- the free breakfast) in a motel (same one).  Yum.  Will get a shower and hit the road next.

<Just wanted to say how great it feels to be going home.  Even taking 2 days to travel the 850 miles is a good thing, for me to get used to being in a different place.

<The good ole irritable bowel syndrome roared it's ugly head again yesterday as I set out on the road.  It may be triggered just by the vibration of the car on the road.  Cause the minute I stop, watch out.  I've got about 1 minute to hit the toilet!  Made it just barely both times.  And then, whow, somehow that was all for yesterday!  I'm soooo grateful that the rest of the day, even with hourly stops just in case, that I didn't have any more attacks.

<Beautiful traveling weather.

<I may have said something yesterday about the towns that don't have elec.  I quickly learned that stopping at exits out in the rural areas was a mistake.  The weather channel/or radio said it could be next Mon till some will get elec, but towns will get it by Fri.  That was probably NJ or NY area.

<Now I've gone through Maryland, PA, and West Virginia...just barely touching some of them.

<There's no more rain forecast now. 80's for today all the way home.

I decided before leaving CT to skip going to DC.  Many people had evacuated the coast, and were probably jamming up the motels.  So it was unlikely that I could find one so that I could spend a day in museums.  That's got to wait for another trip. 

When I drove through cities on my way south, many exits were closed due to flooding of the streets under the interstate.  I was pretty naive about how hurricanes affected inland areas.  I kept feeling surprised that the storm had affected so many areas.  No electricity and flooding still from a storm that passed 2 days ago.  Later I found that northern New England had many more of these problems that lasted weeks.

My family has finally (a year later) stopped teasing me about how I come to town and bring storms. Maybe.

Irene visits

Now we return to the story of my 69th year.

Two granddaughters enjoy breakfast and the bunny out in the yard

Following my loose-tongued dinner on the 23rd, Grandma and Grandpa G went back to their own home, while I retired to the guest corner in the basement playroom.

(from my email to The Flowery One, Aug 24, 2011)
<I gave away a bunch of vases, plates, and the best pitcher I'd made...the small red one.   It was fun to see the girls trying to decide which of the little vases would be theirs...since there were 5 of them, and only 3 girls.  I think Grandma finally took one, and The Care Giver another, and they settled.  I was happy Grandma got a platter and a big vase, since they are so nice to me and of course to the whole family.

<I'm going to go try to find the 2 houses I lived in when we lived here in the mid-late 60s.  I know one street, but don't remember the other one...just vaguely where it is.

Small 3 bedroom house where I lived with husband and my 2 oldest boys, Thompsonville, CT 1965-68

Three bedroom house we lived in 68-69, Windsor CT

I really hadn't paid much attention to hurricanes since moving to the mountains.

My next email to my friend says:
<Everyone here is thinking of preparing for the huricane...which is weird.  I keep saying, be prepared, don't panic.  But the truth is being inland as far as we are, it will just give the same winds and rain that will probably be felt in Black Mountain, just a day later.  Should be here by Monday.

<It is due to hit the outer banks tomorrow morning..at least the last I heard.  I haven't checked this morning yet. 

<Lots of east coast (New Jersey, New York) islands have been given warnings to get them to do something to prepare, since they haven't had to prepare before, or maybe just for years.  NY city may have some flooding, if there's a direct hit...because it's also due to be at the same time as a new moon high tide...they're guessing.

<Since no hurricane has hit the uS for at least 4 years, the news/weather reports can't do anything before things happen besides talk about it...and they really don't know anything yet.  Forecasts have a margin of error of about 150 miles either side of the track they think it will take...but of course the closer it gets in time, the more likely they will know which way it may go.  But it is still a storm that doesn't always follow the forecasts.

<So I've posted a meditation at the bottom here, that Linda sent to me.  Hope it helps along with your energies, which are definitely appreciated.

~   Meditation on Hurricane Irene
~ ~     Visualize the storm becoming less and less intense.
~ ~ ~ See the eyewall of the storm beginning to dissipate and become less defined.
~ ~ ~ See the category rating of the storm lowering to a 1.
~ ~ ~ As you look at images of the storm visualize the tightly packed cloud formations loosening and see clear spots appear within the formation.
~ ~ ~ Send love to Gaia so that “whatever this storm is meant to accomplish for Earth” it does so in the gentlest way possible.
~ ~ ~ Give thanks for the opportunity to be of service, and bear witness to the most remarkable time in the history of our planet.