Friday, August 26, 2011

The Hurricane


As another Friday rolls around, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a great weekend, and for those of you in the hurricane zone, please be safe.  I'll be battering down the hatches tomorrow, to be sure.  Checked on the evacuation map, and my home is located just outside the evacuation area.  Pays to be prepared, though.  They say this will be the worst storm to hit the city since 1821.  I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit unnerved.  

My main concern is losing power.  Will be sure to have everyone in the household make sure their phones are charged before the storm hits.   Already have plenty of candles and two flashlights.  Could use a transistor radio if they sell them anymore.  At any rate, our clock radio appears to take batteries so now is a good time to check it out.  Left son a list of things to stock up on today--water, canned goods, and the like.  Hubby will take care of the windows.   We'll be safe.  Don't know it I'll make it to work in the new place on Monday what with the talk of shutting down the trains, but that is getting ahead of myself...one step at a time is the way to go.  

So, be safe, my dear friends.  We're in for a wild ride, to be sure, but if we pay attention, prepare, and listen to the experts, we'll all be okay. 

Lord of the winds! I feel thee nigh,
I know thy breath in the burning sky!
And I wait, with a thrill in every vein,
For the coming of the hurricane!

And lo! on the wing of the heavy gales,
Through the boundless arch of heaven he sails;
Silent and slow, and terribly strong,
The mighty shadow is borne along,
Like the dark eternity to come;
While the world below, dismayed and dumb,
Through the calm of the thick hot atmosphere
Looks up at its gloomy folds with fear.

They darken fast; and the golden blaze
Of the sun is quenched in the lurid haze,
And he sends through the shade a funeral ray--
A glare that is neither night nor day,
A beam that touches, with hues of death,
The clouds above and the earth beneath.
To its covert glides the silent bird,
While the hurricane's distant voice is heard,
Uplifted among the mountains round,
And the forests hear and answer the sound.

He is come! he is come! do ye not behold
His ample robes on the wind unrolled?
Giant of air! we bid thee hail!--
How his gray skirts toss in the whirling gale;
How his huge and writhing arms are bent,
To clasp the zone of the firmament,
And fold at length, in their dark embrace,
From mountain to mountain the visible space.

Darker--still darker! the whirlwinds bear
The dust of the plains to the middle air:
And hark to the crashing, long and loud,
Of the chariot of God in the thunder-cloud!
You may trace its path by the flashes that start
From the rapid wheels where'er they dart,
As the fire-bolts leap to the world below,
And flood the skies with a lurid glow.

What roar is that?--'tis the rain that breaks
In torrents away from the airy lakes,
Heavily poured on the shuddering ground,
And shedding a nameless horror round.
Ah! well known woods, and mountains, and skies,
With the very clouds!--ye are lost to my eyes.
I seek ye vainly, and see in your place
The shadowy tempest that sweeps through space,
A whirling ocean that fills the wall
Of the crystal heaven, and buries all.
And I, cut off from the world, remain
Alone with the terrible hurricane.

William Cullen Bryant

11 comments:

  1. I've been thinking of you, ever since hearing the NYC area was in a direct line.

    You will be prepared. You will be safe. But seems you will probably be cut off from Net communication. Not easy for we moderns to take.

    Wrapping you in gentle hugs... And asking for some, for myself. You need them so much more! Be safe my Dear Friend!!!

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  2. Stay safe this weekend and good luck with the new workspace on Monday!

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  3. I'll be thinking of you Mary.
    Not so much worried about my area as I am yours.
    (((hugs)))

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  4. Mary, sounds like you have storms all around you, not just Irene. Have a smooth move to the new workplace, and we will all be keeping you in our thoughts as Irene approaches. Sending you hugs and thoughts of staying safe, dry, and powered up! May the God and the Goddess keep you in their embrace!!

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  5. From experience I would also say to get paper dishes, there is no way you are going to use your water to wash dishes. Also board games and cards are good along with books and knitting or crocheting that kind of stuff. Puzzles are great everyone can do them or just one. The worst for me was the power being out and no water, we have a well. no showers.... Anyway my sweet friend, take care and I will be praying for a tropical storm. Love you!
    (((HUGS)))

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  6. I guess I should've checked in here first before I dashed off a note to you!

    Glad to hear you are just outside of the evacuation area but I'm sure you will get some of the weather too. I'm still praying for your safety and that of your family and that the winds be calmed...

    Prayers going up on the smoke!
    Love and Blessings!!!!
    xoxoxo

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  7. Maybe the storm will just bounce off and head to sea...we can hope...

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  8. Please be safe Mary! I keep a stockpile of water in my garage as well as all other emergency supplies so we were already set. The lines at the gas station were the worst. My family from NW Jersey came down to ride out the storm (yeah, we're all pretty crazy) and we're gonna hit A.P. on Monday morning. Batton down the hatches and be safe!

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  9. I've been thinking of you too. I hope things don't turn out to be as bad a predicted!
    Stay safe.
    Let us know how you are.
    Hugs

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  10. Perhaps you should get one of those wind up radios. I have one and it works very well.
    Good luck in the coming storm.

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  11. be safe...was hoping Irene would change her course and head out to sea...but it now looks like everyone along the east coast from NC and north are all hunkering down...
    let us know you're ok...thinking of you...

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