[goodnight irene, goodnight irene, i'll see you in my dreams]

Hurricane Irene.

Aside from a spot in my molding where rain droplets entered in the night (seriously, can I live in a bedroom WITHOUT rain coming through the window? I mean...really...), I think I slept through most of her wrath. Right now it is clear and windy-ish, and I've looked a pics of lower Manhattan and Coney Island, where there seems to be a bit of flooding (and in other areas as well), but Hurricane Irene has now been renamed Tropical Storm Irene (or perhaps just "Tropical Storm," I don't know if they get names). I think some people are going to be a bit "miffed," as my dad would say, at some of the over-preparation, but I think that would be silly. We should be thankful that Irene did not hit as hard as it was predicted she would. And there are still aspects of the storm that created difficulty, there was flooding, there was power outage, so it's not like some people didn't experience some hard knocks.

Another thing I noticed on Friday, when I was out and about with my roommate preparing for our possible week stay indoors should the power fail, etc, is that New York City in crisis mode is a city of friendliness, compassion, gentility, and politeness. While we did have to wait in lines at Target and the grocery store for 30+ minutes, there was a sense of calm about it, and everyone was saying, "excuse me," if they had to pass by a tight crowd. There could have been pushing and shoving, but none was seen. People were smiling and interacting with strangers, and I found that to be a very beautiful thing. At the end of the day, we are here for each other and wish each other well. I remember people saying the same thing after 9.11.01, that NYC showed its true colors - colors of beauty and and acceptance, reflections of the many colors of the city. At its core, humanity is good, at least I think so. I get upset when people go against that goodness. If I were alive in the 60s I would have been the biggest hippie ever. Love and peace, man. No war. Hell, maybe I would have even burned my bra. What was I talking about again? Oh yeah. Hurricane Irene.

The thing that we will feel is the aftermath. For the first time in HISTORY, seriously, history, MTA shut down the subway system...they also shut down the buses, the bridges, Amtrak, NJ Transit, airports...so getting all that up and running again is gonna be a bit of a bitch. Perhaps another day off from work? Don't mind if I do...

Anyway, I'm going to go plan on some canned food meal ideas with my roommate...haha. I think we prepared for dear old Irene the perfect amount - everything we spent money on we can use, power outage or no power outage. I need some coffee...and a nap.

[amanda]

title quote: "Goodnight Irene," Jim Reeves