Hello all, we are safe and sound after Monday's hurricane, thank God. We were in a mandatory evacuation zone and did not evacuate. I know how careless that was. We stayed home for a couple reasons. One was that I honestly thought the whole thing was just a media circus and that it was being blown out of proportion. The other reason was that last year for Hurricane Irene Anthony was at work, so Leona and I went to stay with Grandpa Arthur and Grandma Peggy to ride out the storm together. This year Anthony was home with us so we felt safe being home. The power went out around 6, so we spent the evening playing yahtzee and drinking beer by candlelight, much like our camping days. We didn't think it would be as bad as it was, but certainly won't ever make that mistake again. We were very lucky. We had no flooding and no damage to the house. We had part of the neighbor's tree in the back yard, the stop sign on our corner blew down, and we watched the train crossing bar fold in half and hang dangling across the tracks. We lost power from Monday through Friday, which seems fast considering how many trees are still down. Now there is a gas shortage but Anthony being Anthony we had full tanks before the storm, so we're fine. These things really put it all in perspective and make you cherish and appreciate your loved ones so much. I've been hugging Leona too tightly all week and she is beginning to swat me away. :) We stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while the power was out and it was wonderful. We are so lucky.
I'm trying to figure out what we should do to help those who were not as lucky as we were. We have some information that we need to look over and figure out if we should donate food or money or time (which is tough as I want to spend every waking second with LB.) I'm not that organized but I feel guilty that we are home now like nothing happened when there are so many still hurting.
Here are just a few pics from around our neighborhood. It has been pretty surreal seeing so many huge trees hanging from power lines or lying across streets. We're close enough to the water that we've seen a lot of families pumping the water out of their houses with all their possessions in garbage bags out on the street. These pictures don't really do justice to how scary it is to see it in person. It seems like every single block had a huge tree either on a house or in the road. That along with broken street lights made even the daylight after the storm seem eery. I'm sure in another week once we're back to our routine it will seem very distant and Leona will never remember this but it's a time I won't forget.
