In the past few years, we have weathered (heh) Snowmageddon, a derecho, an earthquake and freak flooding in this area. And then along comes Hurricane Sandy, also known as "Frankenstorm." This name, for the record, is completely unacceptable. Not only because of the ridiculous name, but also because this is horrific news for someone like me who is terrible in crisis situations.
But with all of the hype surrounding this event and because I grew up in a coastal town and have learned to respect and prepare for tropical storms, I actually did plan for the worst-case scenario. That is why, on Friday afternoon, I got my hair highlighted and bought some clothes at Goodwill to complete my husband’s buccaneer costume for a party we were attending Saturday.
To recap: My preparation for what was predicted to be the worst storm in more than a hundred years was limited to reviving my blondness and acquiring pirate pants.
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I apologize for the redundancy.
To my credit, I actually did focus more on real preparation after the pirate party. And by that, I mean I spent a good 3 ½ hours at brunch with my girlfriends Sunday, and then spent the rest of the day and night drinking as many cups of coffee as humanly possible because OH MY GOD at some point the power would definitely go out and fresh-brewed coffee would be but a memory.
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And then? Nothing happened other than being entertained from the social media headquarters I set up in the downstairs guest room with my husband and daughter to wait out the storm. Even during the scariest moments, people came through with the humor — both intentionally and unintentionally. For instance, a local meteorologist claimed the weather system was going to be a "very fluid situation." And my friend, John, posted a photo of flooded streets near his home in NYC claiming he was an optimist as he saw Lower Manhattan as "half full." One guy whose blog I follow posted a photo of himself prepared for the storm — dressed in a Dorothy Gale costume with a stockpile of red wine and cigarettes next to him.
All kidding aside, my heart goes out to those in other areas who were affected and I am once again in awe of those who put their lives at risk to help others in times like this. We are so incredibly fortunate Oakton missed most of the devastation caused by this storm.
Other than my corneas spontaneously combusting when I saw the guy-dressed-as-Dorothy, that is.