Heaven doth with us as we with torches do; not light them for themselves.

I have become all too familiar with torches this summer… We have been without power since Sunday—courtesy of Hurricane Irene. And the stock answer for when it’s coming back is “By Wednesday.”


I know a lot of other folks up and down the East Coast have it way worse than us—trust me. My folks got wiped out in 1989 by Hurricane Hugo when it stalled over St. Croix Island for 12 hours. And that was a Category 5. Don’t mess with Mother Nature. I have a healthy respect for what she is capable of, believe me. I mean, the East Coast had an earthquake last Wednesday and a hurricane on Saturday and Sunday (that included floods and tornadoes.) Dang.

It wouldn’t be so bad if we hadn’t gone through 2 days of no power back in June. And what makes this more frustrating is that once again, everyone around us has power. The exterior lights from the apartments on the hill above shine down and mock us at night. It’s not fair. We’re nice people, we deserve light.

Unfortunately, we will have to toss everything in the fridge—something we can ill afford. And, of course, insurance doesn’t cover stuff like that. Just like no one wanted to cover the TV we had to replace after the electrical explosion. Okay, I get it; this was an “act of god.” And the local power company had to restore power to about 1 million customers. But they brought in 4,000 workers—including people from other parts of the country. Shouldn’t they be able to bang all those restarts out by now?

I’m being a spoiled brat? Okay.

But I miss my electronica. Hell, I miss being able to see my way to the john! My bathroom is in the middle of the apartment, so it is the black hole without electricity. I got those little “tap” lights for us, so we’re walking around the apartment with those.

I’m so bored, I was in bed by 10pm for the last two nights.

And let me tell you, cold showers suck!

And I may run out of clean undies if they don’t get us electricity back soon.

I know I’m directing a show set in the early 1900s, but I really don’t need to live it to do that properly.

Well, let me go see if we can borrow a cup of kilowatts from the neighbors up the hill.

SIDEBAR:



Made a couple of attempts to contact the power company for at least a guesstimate as to when my power would come back. Had to tap dance thru 5 (count ‘me 5) “press this” options only to be left on hold for 6—7 minutes. I had to hang up and get back to work. Can we PLEASE go back to the days when a human being answered your call!!!!!!!!

the rain it raineth everyday.....

At least that’s how it has seemed this summer. This year’s has been one of the most erratic in my recent memory. Here on the East Coast. June was pretty much a month of rain, wind and thunder; July wasn’t much better. Here we are halfway through August and we’re having our first heat wave. What’s up with that?
Of course we also have the first official hurricane heading towards us. Last I heard, it was near the Lower Antilles Islands. Hurricanes are scary things—even a Category 1 is not fun. My parents lived in the West Indies from the mid 70s till the late 80s; the first time we visited them when they lived on St. Croix, Hurricane Klaus hit the island—with winds gusting up to 90 miles an hour. The worst hit overnight on the third day we were there. I spent the night convincing my 10 year old daughter [and myself] that we were all going to be fine. My parents, husband and son slept through the worst of it. My parents because they were used to it and my husband and son because they could sleep through anything. I remember screens blowing in as I told my daughter fairy tales, I remember singing Sunday school songs with the whirl of the wind as our accompaniment and I remember the terrible pressure on my head from the sudden changes in air pressure. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever been through. [Not counting my kids teen years, of course.]
Fortunately, my parents were off-island when Hurricane Hugo ravaged the Caribbean in 1989. Their house was totaled by one of the mini-tornadoes formed by a very condensed “eye” in the storm that stalled over the US Virgin Islands for 12 hours and had wind gusts of up to 190 miles an hour. I can’t even imagine what that would feel like, and yet the locals took it in stride. As did my parents as they rebuilt their home. Humor was the order of the day— like the engaged couple who told everyone they were now registered at the local hardware store. And my mother joking why was she bothering to sort her few remaining sheets into sets—she had no beds to put them on. We never did find their mattress by the way. Then there was one of her Cruzan friends stating he was going to try to get some new furniture, but “It all fly by too fast.” We visited the island 7 months after the storm and were quite impressed with how much had been accomplished in such a short time. Granted there was still a lot to do [such as putting a roof back on the control tower at the airport] but they were well on their way to recovering. And making improvements—like moving the phone and electric companies from the lowest lying part of the island so they didn’t flood every time it rained.
And now we are approaching the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and there are still dozens of towns and neighborhoods on the Gulf Coast that have yet to even start their recovery. How sad. Especially the loss of such a rich culture in New Orleans. Many of the artists, actors and musicians lived in the areas that were obliterated by the breach of the levees.
Let’s not forget that. And let’s count our blessings that the damage suffered around here is rare and minimal.
So, get out your sunscreen and enjoy it while you can.