photo from ABC |
Mother Nature seems to have developed a grudge against my birthday.
Last year, storm Alfred blew in a day or two after my birthday, downing tree limbs and power lines
through most of the state. We remained powerless for over a week. Even Halloween
had to be cancelled!
Friday, as I
turned another year older, I was greeted by continual warnings on TV to prepare
for the worst – three days before the worst would materialize. Hurricane Sandy
was heading toward New England.
I agree forewarned is forearmed, but I could
have done without the melodramatic station promotions repeated after each storm update. One of the station's ads featured music that
reminded me of the haunting theme to The High
and the Mighty, an iconic disaster film of the Fifties. As the tension in the music built, the local
meteorologist announced , “We stayed with you during tropical storm Irene. We’ll stay with you through this one.” Then, this
morning, as the hurricane moved half way up the coast, a morning anchor on the Today Show point-blankly told
Al Roker, “I’m really scared.” Not my idea of helpful storm reporting.
Yet, I do admit, once again I find
myself at the mercy of Mother Nature
and, once again, I am at a loss to know what to wish for. If I wish for Sandy to stay away from me, do I inadvertently
wish for her to more greatly impact my NJ
and NY relatives and friends? That’s not what I want.
So what do I
want?
I want to be
forewarned but not terror- stricken, prepared but not panicked. Reasonable warnings got me to clear my
porch and fill my gas tank. Thanks to early warnings I’ve got blocks of ice in the freezer
and lots of water.
I don’t like
storm warnings taking control of my day, but I heed them. If the governor's stark warning directed me to evacuate - I would. But please, just tell me what to do and spare me the melodrama.
Here are some sensible measures to get us all through the storm.
Here are some sensible measures to get us all through the storm.
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