We
live on a mountain top in the Hudson Valley in upstate NY. Forests,
wildlife, gorgeous views, beauty all around. Sounds ideal? Of
course, until.....you're in the middle of a storm system like 'Sandy'
or last year's 'Irene'. I must say both of which we survived
without damage to ourselves or the house. But each time the
inevitable loss of power, water & phones. Last year we were
without all this for over a week & now it's been 3 days &
still waiting. It's a rural area so we can't just drive into the
town for dinner or to see a movie as they have no power either .
Long black nights changing batteries in the lamps, no water for hot
showers or just run the tap to fill the kettle, not to mention the
inoperable loos !! Or the dead phones.
Once
past these complaints you suddenly realize that you haven't a worry
compared to the millions of people here on the East Coast of America
& into the mid-West who have suffered flooding, fires & loss
of life in these violent & unprecedented storms. If there is
any good to be made of these natural disasters it's an awareness of
what fragile creatures we are, living on a planet that is hurtling
through space, and quite alone until proved otherwise.
But
we are a resilient species, and time after time we overcome &
bound back hopefully wiser & stronger than before. I see this
around me here in this rural area constantly.
Not
an hour before writing this we saw hope driving up our road bringing
light & power & a new transmission pole on the back of a huge
utility truck. As we passed we cheered & the driver acknowledged
with a big laugh. Hope springs eternal !
Cheers,
Annette
