Memories of a Storm

Walking through this foggy neighborhood this morning, Johnny Cash's Sunday Morning Coming Down playing in my head, I passed a small Latina girl, maybe five years old, taking care of two younger siblings on the sidewalk in front of her house. She stared at me.

I smiled meekly at her, and said "Hi." She continued to look at me with that kind of frank, open stare that only children employ as I passed her. At the last second, she smiled back and said "Hi."

I'm a storm news junkie, and so have been watching CNN a bunch this weekend. Thankfully, the East Coast dodged disaster pretty much.

That brings back certain memories, as I've been in the glancing blows of two big hurricanes myself.

One in Bermuda, with my then-GF. We were staying on the top floor of a beachfront hotel, when the hotel staff posted a sign in the lobby (this was before the Internet, email or cellphones so communication options were limited), warning guests to check frequently for updates on the situation.

As the hurricane approached, all flights were cancelled, so our return to the States was delayed -- not necessarily a major inconvenience in this case. Then the skies darkened ominously and the ceiling of our room (which was the roof of the hotel) started banging ominously.

Various generators, vents and other attachments to the roof were getting battered by the gusts, and it felt scary -- like the roof might well blow in. Then we lost power.

Back down the stairs to the lobby, now the elevator didn't work, we gathered with other guests to wait out the storm.

But, almost as suddenly as it had arrived, the edge of the storm bounced off of the shoreline and tore itself, spinning, off in another direction. The winds fell, the skies lightened, the power came back on, and the sign in the lobby said "All Clear."

The story of the other hurricane I'll leave for another day.

As much reason as there is to feel melancholy about many things, there is every bit as much reason to feel grateful for friends and family on the East Coast, and that at least this one danger has now passed.

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