Sandy

Well, we made it through the storm. With more than a touch of survivor's guilt. We had flashlights and candles a plenty; a hurricane lantern; a battery operated radio; a cooler filled with ice; and pots, pans, and a bathtub full of water.

So at about 6:00pm on Monday, I looked outside and saw that our neighbor's giant, beautiful tree looked like someone was shaking a handful of cooked spaghetti. At that point, we decided to retreat with the cats to the basement. We live in a tiny, two room cottage. It was built in the late 1800s as a hunting lodge and is rock solid. So much so that though we live on a main road, you can't hear the cars. Well, we could feel our little house shaking from the winds even from down in the basement. It was really pretty scary. The cats were spooked and alternated between hiding inside the boxspring or trying to see out the tiny basement windows. The wind sounded like a 747 was taking off on our roof.

The next morning we woke up fully prepared to have a tree on our roof. We didn't. Our neighbor's spaghetti tree lost most of its branches, and they have another tree down. After all our preparations, we never lost power. We were so, so lucky. Living on a main road may explain how we kept power. We are so grateful. I know people who are still without power, 8 days later. The devastation is really pretty sobering, especially in the community where I work, which is right along the Long Island Sound. Not to mention Staten Island, where Mr. Snoop and I went on Sunday.

Last week was pretty much a wash. Since the town where I work is just now getting power back more than a week later, I did not work in the office last week. Mr. Snoop is on his ER rotation and saw lots of hurricane related stuff. The neighborhood where we regularly run is trashed. I did 4 miles yesterday and still there are wires down, trees down, trees on homes, etc. So sad.

What I learned

- If you don't have a plug for your tub, duct tape works just great. Better than a plug, even.

- So glad Mr. Snoop and I filled up our cars Sunday night. Since I did not have work last week, we still have half a tank each. I'm grateful for my little hybrid civic. 38 miles per gallon is pretty marvelous right about now.

- If Mr. Snoop and I stay in this area for his residency, we've decided that we will invest in a good generator and emergency supplies. Between the hurricanes and the nor'easters and the blizzards, people are constantly losing power/water here. The infrastructure here is just so old and they do not properly keep it up or repair it. I could go all political and talk about taxes, unions, etc; but I won't. We're just going to keep a supply of water and nonperishables on hand. I think you have to, if you live up here.

My work is doing another run to Staten Island to hook up with Presbyterian Disaster Assitance this week. Having been there on Sunday, I can tell you that they really do need your thoughts and prayers. Thanks, y'all.