The Anecdotal Life Part. 113
Well I'm ready. I have three gallons of water, lots of beer, three jars of peanut butter, big bag of chocolate covered cherries from Michigan, and that's about it. Since everyone on television says water will be our most precious item and necessity, I figure I better start on the beer first and leave the water for last. Logic is an important ingredient when faced with another d--- disaster warning, don't you think? I do prefer hurricanes however. We pretty much know what to expect and what to worry about.
Not like that d--- earthquake. How dare it anyway? I was at my Ukrainian friend's , thank God, brick home, when the windows I was looking out of waltzed a good foot and a half over to the left and then back to the right. The ground took off with another couple of hard jolts under my feet, and my first thought was , " gosh, her washing machine is even worse than mine!" As I just sat there puzzling over that piece of mental nonsense, my friend raced over to me yelling at me to leave the house. "We had an earthshake!" Her English has improved a lot, but not enough to cover that emergency, but I didn't correct her and slowly wandered out the front door and stood on the top step." Hey, I thought, how could we be having a disaster when the sun is shining and everything?
People came slowly out of their homes as fairly baffled as I was. It took a day for it all to really sink in. I remembered I had my hand on the back of her dog and he was growling for no good reason. He usually growls, jumps up and runs barking at the postman when he comes to the door. But no, not this time, he just sat there. I thought I had made him angry somehow.
Emails poured into our phones and laptops. Tanya sat on the top step with her laptop talking to her mother on a visual skype to the Ukraine. Later in the afternoon, Karina, her daughter, read us an email from her friend, a fellow seventh grader, whose first day of school went like this. "
"I went to school on the bus and on the way we had an earthquake and then when we got to school they sent us home and on the way the bus broke down. Then there was a man outside of the bus with a gun." I think they are going to have a tough time getting that kid back on the bus ever again. My teaching friend, Cheryl, had twenty four-year-olds, lined up at the door to go home on their first day. My impression of her reaction maybe slightly less accurate, but I believe she whistled them on the bus as soon as she could, for home and mom.
The postmistress related how they had to work to midnight to get the mail all back in their proper slots and that her sister had a huge wine cabinet that toppled over, smashing all the wine glasses and bottles to pieces. Historic buildings took some sad damage and when I went to Baltimore I was amazed at how well and how quickly they had cleaned up their mess. Many store front windows were all boarded up by noon and one bridge had an enormous black canvass slung under it to prevent any more rocks on the facade from shawling down on the traffic below.
I must admit I avoided the Harbor Tunnel. The boat people were nonchalant (except for those in the Marina office buildings) because what was another wave or two?
I am worried today actually- about one thing; my boat is tied securely to a floating dock, but it can take only a six foot surge and the Chesapeake may get a lot of water shoved into it. In 1938 the surges ran between 18 to 25 feet. So wish us luck and better days.
Copyright: August 27, 2011
Not like that d--- earthquake. How dare it anyway? I was at my Ukrainian friend's , thank God, brick home, when the windows I was looking out of waltzed a good foot and a half over to the left and then back to the right. The ground took off with another couple of hard jolts under my feet, and my first thought was , " gosh, her washing machine is even worse than mine!" As I just sat there puzzling over that piece of mental nonsense, my friend raced over to me yelling at me to leave the house. "We had an earthshake!" Her English has improved a lot, but not enough to cover that emergency, but I didn't correct her and slowly wandered out the front door and stood on the top step." Hey, I thought, how could we be having a disaster when the sun is shining and everything?
People came slowly out of their homes as fairly baffled as I was. It took a day for it all to really sink in. I remembered I had my hand on the back of her dog and he was growling for no good reason. He usually growls, jumps up and runs barking at the postman when he comes to the door. But no, not this time, he just sat there. I thought I had made him angry somehow.
Emails poured into our phones and laptops. Tanya sat on the top step with her laptop talking to her mother on a visual skype to the Ukraine. Later in the afternoon, Karina, her daughter, read us an email from her friend, a fellow seventh grader, whose first day of school went like this. "
"I went to school on the bus and on the way we had an earthquake and then when we got to school they sent us home and on the way the bus broke down. Then there was a man outside of the bus with a gun." I think they are going to have a tough time getting that kid back on the bus ever again. My teaching friend, Cheryl, had twenty four-year-olds, lined up at the door to go home on their first day. My impression of her reaction maybe slightly less accurate, but I believe she whistled them on the bus as soon as she could, for home and mom.
The postmistress related how they had to work to midnight to get the mail all back in their proper slots and that her sister had a huge wine cabinet that toppled over, smashing all the wine glasses and bottles to pieces. Historic buildings took some sad damage and when I went to Baltimore I was amazed at how well and how quickly they had cleaned up their mess. Many store front windows were all boarded up by noon and one bridge had an enormous black canvass slung under it to prevent any more rocks on the facade from shawling down on the traffic below.
I must admit I avoided the Harbor Tunnel. The boat people were nonchalant (except for those in the Marina office buildings) because what was another wave or two?
I am worried today actually- about one thing; my boat is tied securely to a floating dock, but it can take only a six foot surge and the Chesapeake may get a lot of water shoved into it. In 1938 the surges ran between 18 to 25 feet. So wish us luck and better days.
Copyright: August 27, 2011
posted by The Anecdotal Life at 6:32 AM
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