This year the forecast is worse but I don't feel so afraid. I'm pretty certain it's because I don't have TV. I've looked at weather maps and the information of NWS and NOAA. I feel well informed and well prepared without being fed propaganda all day. I have also seen how many people scoff at the storm. Especially in the wake of Irene who left our shores largely untouched while northern New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and even Vermont suffered for weeks and months to get the power on, clean up, and make repairs due to trees and flooding.
After last year I still keep my house stocked with a weeks worth of bottled water. We always have lots of rice and soup and extra canned goods around so that's not a problem. We'll stay this time unless they evacuate the coast. There will be more information on what to expect from the storm as it approaches. Many people especially after last year are not taking it as any kind of serious threat. I've always had a healthy respect for mother nature and what she is capable of so I just stay informed and as prepared as you can be and hope for the best. I don't feel the need to joke about the fact that I didn't lose anything last time because I still feel lucky. I welcome the opportunity to say as much this Wednesday.
The past couple nights 2 black kittens have been playing in my back yard. Tonight they approached my husband (I jokingly refer to him as the animal whisperer). Last year in the week leading up to the hurricane Leo (our cat) went from prowling around the neighborhood to going right up to my husband wanting to be pet. We fed him one night and the following night he wouldn't leave and demanded to come inside. As much as a cat can demand. So Leo went to the vet, he had been de-clawed and neutered by the previous owner who dumped him outside and he so became an indoor cat.
The weekend after was Irene. Kyle, Zack, and I went to my mother in laws because I was terrified. It had been a very long time since a weather event where I felt my life could be threatened. Not since the days of childhood where the responsibilities did not rest upon me. I think it was during the flooding of the lagoon when I was 7 that cemented my respect for nature, but not fear. We had to wade through knee deep water to rescue Little Bit my dog but he was fine and although some of our stuff was wet, so were we. It's a good thing to know that you can always get new stuff and that life will go on. It's not the stuff that makes us who we are.
Let's get back to this storm and this year. We left food out for the 2 black cats as a peace offering so that they know they can come here if they need to get out of the storm. I don't have cable T.V. so without the propaganda about what to shop for I didn't feel the need to go buy more and I don't have the feeling of not having enough. I made my own mental check list of things to get done today, like all the laundry and dishes in case there is no power for a few days. Tomorrow I'll secure the stuff in the yard which we have plenty of time to do.
My only concern about staying now is how much wind the old trees outside my house, a couple of which I think are sick, are going to hold up if we actually get 75 MPH sustained winds for 24-48 hours. If that happens that is going to feel like the longest 48 hours of our lives. Even with the 10 ft storm surge and the high tide I feel like our house won't flood. Anything is possible but it's not my biggest fear. If that seems possible we'll surely be evacuated tomorrow. But winds that high for that long, with gusts are not something most of us are ready for especially after last time and "all the hype" which now numerous people have said to me. We have a lot of time now to prepare, but some still won't as an affront to being put out by Mother Nature last year and having to clean up summer early.
I thought back to the kittens which made me think of all the thousands of abandoned and feral animals that will be weathering this storm outside who weren't as lucky as Leo. Maybe we shouldn't laugh in the wake of Irene when we realize it was a lot worse for the least of us and really really shitty for some unlucky people who lived a week without power or had their homes flooded and lives ruined. One website I was on, about what to do with animals in the storm, was asking for volunteers at shelters who take in massive amount of strays people drop off because they weren't as lucky as Leo.
When the animals seem scared I take notice. And they do. I feel more relaxed this year entirely because I feel more connected to nature and the world than I did last year. Last time around I felt taken off guard. This time I know what is coming. I am hoping to fare well. But many people are going to struggle through flooding or power outages. Instead of mock them by saying the storm wasn't so bad when they lose things they can't afford to replace, let's try and have some compassion.
With all the talk of buying water and batteries, and even if you consider the animals, no one really is thinking about or at least no one is talking about one thing. We are all hoping that our houses weather the storm and we are left standing. What about the people who live in Tent City? The last time Kyle and I talked about Tent City was last winter we realized, because it only made the news once since then. Lakewood New Jersey's version of Tent City because I have since found many exist in NJ and I'm sure they span the nation. January and February, which I would think are the hardest months to make it through living outside, was when Lakewood chose to try and evict Tent City. Lakewood's Tent City was harassed by police and many times police tried to dismantle it. In February a judge ruled that the police could not evict Tent City. At least sometimes judges still make rational decisions.
You cannot legislate away homelessness. Homelessness is a symptom of our broken society. If you make it illegal to be homeless there is still nowhere else to go. The police were ordered to back off from Tent City. Not before they confiscated the bus that Steve Brigham, Minister Steve as my husband recalled him, ran the community out of. The primary thing of value I am guessing Minister Steve still owned. The only real shelter or vehicle of the community was towed away by the Lakewood community and crushed. As I told my husband the story of the bus he said, "Oh yeah? Minister Steve?! He seemed like a good guy. He came to Greenbriar (where my husband worked at the time) and we chopped up a bunch of wood and helped him load it on the school bus last winter. I can't believe they did that." I wonder how Tent City will get their wood this year without the bus, if they can even rebuild after this storm. 10 inches to some people will not just be, "a little rain."
Why on earth does anyone think that the way to a better society is to hurt the most vulnerable among us? Those of us, who have a secure shelter, as we contemplate whether boarding up the windows is necessary, would be wise to be thankful that we are of the many Americans who still have windows. In New Jersey last year there were well over 12,000 homeless people, over 4,000 of them children. As the recession hits the nation hard there are more and more Tent Cities cropping up around the country. They have laws to govern themselves and live civilly just like we do. But you can't get a job these days without a shower and nice clothes. We need to stop wishing for doom and gloom and Hollywood endings when for millions of American's every day is a struggle and those days are already here. Those of us who have always lived in the comfort of the American social safety net need to start realizing that we live in the Capital. We need to realize how bad things really are.
I don't really care if anyone thinks humans contribute to global warming and dramatic climate change. I would like to start a conversation that begins with acknowledging that major catastrophic weather events have been happening more frequently which seems to correlate with the rising temperature of the planet. Whether or not we contributed to that or make it worse is not as important as finding out what parts of our system need upgrades and what parts need to be deemed unsafe under these conditions. The American power grid is over 20 years old, and has tons of problems that we have seen arise with every new storm or weather event. So are many of our water and gas systems. Our roads, bridges, and all of our public transportation are outdated and obsolete.
No one trusts the news or the government so even when they say the threat is imminent we tend to ignore them. They make us panic and they make us shop away our fear through all the propaganda on TV. But shopping doesn't usually prepare you for a hurricane. We need better science to predict these events and help prepare people when they will be happening. We can't just keep pretending that nothing is wrong while Colorado was on fire for almost all of June. We need to wake up. I hope for your sake it's not from a hurricane.
There are 4 empty homes in America for every homeless individual.
Follow JSHN on Facebook for Live Updates About the Storm
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After last year I still keep my house stocked with a weeks worth of bottled water. We always have lots of rice and soup and extra canned goods around so that's not a problem. We'll stay this time unless they evacuate the coast. There will be more information on what to expect from the storm as it approaches. Many people especially after last year are not taking it as any kind of serious threat. I've always had a healthy respect for mother nature and what she is capable of so I just stay informed and as prepared as you can be and hope for the best. I don't feel the need to joke about the fact that I didn't lose anything last time because I still feel lucky. I welcome the opportunity to say as much this Wednesday.
The past couple nights 2 black kittens have been playing in my back yard. Tonight they approached my husband (I jokingly refer to him as the animal whisperer). Last year in the week leading up to the hurricane Leo (our cat) went from prowling around the neighborhood to going right up to my husband wanting to be pet. We fed him one night and the following night he wouldn't leave and demanded to come inside. As much as a cat can demand. So Leo went to the vet, he had been de-clawed and neutered by the previous owner who dumped him outside and he so became an indoor cat.
The weekend after was Irene. Kyle, Zack, and I went to my mother in laws because I was terrified. It had been a very long time since a weather event where I felt my life could be threatened. Not since the days of childhood where the responsibilities did not rest upon me. I think it was during the flooding of the lagoon when I was 7 that cemented my respect for nature, but not fear. We had to wade through knee deep water to rescue Little Bit my dog but he was fine and although some of our stuff was wet, so were we. It's a good thing to know that you can always get new stuff and that life will go on. It's not the stuff that makes us who we are.
Let's get back to this storm and this year. We left food out for the 2 black cats as a peace offering so that they know they can come here if they need to get out of the storm. I don't have cable T.V. so without the propaganda about what to shop for I didn't feel the need to go buy more and I don't have the feeling of not having enough. I made my own mental check list of things to get done today, like all the laundry and dishes in case there is no power for a few days. Tomorrow I'll secure the stuff in the yard which we have plenty of time to do.
My only concern about staying now is how much wind the old trees outside my house, a couple of which I think are sick, are going to hold up if we actually get 75 MPH sustained winds for 24-48 hours. If that happens that is going to feel like the longest 48 hours of our lives. Even with the 10 ft storm surge and the high tide I feel like our house won't flood. Anything is possible but it's not my biggest fear. If that seems possible we'll surely be evacuated tomorrow. But winds that high for that long, with gusts are not something most of us are ready for especially after last time and "all the hype" which now numerous people have said to me. We have a lot of time now to prepare, but some still won't as an affront to being put out by Mother Nature last year and having to clean up summer early.
I thought back to the kittens which made me think of all the thousands of abandoned and feral animals that will be weathering this storm outside who weren't as lucky as Leo. Maybe we shouldn't laugh in the wake of Irene when we realize it was a lot worse for the least of us and really really shitty for some unlucky people who lived a week without power or had their homes flooded and lives ruined. One website I was on, about what to do with animals in the storm, was asking for volunteers at shelters who take in massive amount of strays people drop off because they weren't as lucky as Leo.
When the animals seem scared I take notice. And they do. I feel more relaxed this year entirely because I feel more connected to nature and the world than I did last year. Last time around I felt taken off guard. This time I know what is coming. I am hoping to fare well. But many people are going to struggle through flooding or power outages. Instead of mock them by saying the storm wasn't so bad when they lose things they can't afford to replace, let's try and have some compassion.
With all the talk of buying water and batteries, and even if you consider the animals, no one really is thinking about or at least no one is talking about one thing. We are all hoping that our houses weather the storm and we are left standing. What about the people who live in Tent City? The last time Kyle and I talked about Tent City was last winter we realized, because it only made the news once since then. Lakewood New Jersey's version of Tent City because I have since found many exist in NJ and I'm sure they span the nation. January and February, which I would think are the hardest months to make it through living outside, was when Lakewood chose to try and evict Tent City. Lakewood's Tent City was harassed by police and many times police tried to dismantle it. In February a judge ruled that the police could not evict Tent City. At least sometimes judges still make rational decisions.
You cannot legislate away homelessness. Homelessness is a symptom of our broken society. If you make it illegal to be homeless there is still nowhere else to go. The police were ordered to back off from Tent City. Not before they confiscated the bus that Steve Brigham, Minister Steve as my husband recalled him, ran the community out of. The primary thing of value I am guessing Minister Steve still owned. The only real shelter or vehicle of the community was towed away by the Lakewood community and crushed. As I told my husband the story of the bus he said, "Oh yeah? Minister Steve?! He seemed like a good guy. He came to Greenbriar (where my husband worked at the time) and we chopped up a bunch of wood and helped him load it on the school bus last winter. I can't believe they did that." I wonder how Tent City will get their wood this year without the bus, if they can even rebuild after this storm. 10 inches to some people will not just be, "a little rain."
Why on earth does anyone think that the way to a better society is to hurt the most vulnerable among us? Those of us, who have a secure shelter, as we contemplate whether boarding up the windows is necessary, would be wise to be thankful that we are of the many Americans who still have windows. In New Jersey last year there were well over 12,000 homeless people, over 4,000 of them children. As the recession hits the nation hard there are more and more Tent Cities cropping up around the country. They have laws to govern themselves and live civilly just like we do. But you can't get a job these days without a shower and nice clothes. We need to stop wishing for doom and gloom and Hollywood endings when for millions of American's every day is a struggle and those days are already here. Those of us who have always lived in the comfort of the American social safety net need to start realizing that we live in the Capital. We need to realize how bad things really are.
I don't really care if anyone thinks humans contribute to global warming and dramatic climate change. I would like to start a conversation that begins with acknowledging that major catastrophic weather events have been happening more frequently which seems to correlate with the rising temperature of the planet. Whether or not we contributed to that or make it worse is not as important as finding out what parts of our system need upgrades and what parts need to be deemed unsafe under these conditions. The American power grid is over 20 years old, and has tons of problems that we have seen arise with every new storm or weather event. So are many of our water and gas systems. Our roads, bridges, and all of our public transportation are outdated and obsolete.
No one trusts the news or the government so even when they say the threat is imminent we tend to ignore them. They make us panic and they make us shop away our fear through all the propaganda on TV. But shopping doesn't usually prepare you for a hurricane. We need better science to predict these events and help prepare people when they will be happening. We can't just keep pretending that nothing is wrong while Colorado was on fire for almost all of June. We need to wake up. I hope for your sake it's not from a hurricane.
There are 4 empty homes in America for every homeless individual.
Follow JSHN on Facebook for Live Updates About the Storm
Follow Me On Twitter
Like Me On Facebook For Links To Articles and Photos
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