While reviewing my list, I thought about how most of what was written in 2009 still holds true. Of course, a big difference is that I am now unemployed. And then I looked at Point #22 and thought about last weekend.
22. I love being a New Englander - bad weather and all! (It makes life unpredictable)
Hurricane Irene swept across the East Coast in a slow, lumbering, and apparently deliberate way. I am up here in Vermont thinking, "This is not a coastal state. It couldn't get that bad." Was I wrong.
I am in a campground on an island in the middle of Lake Champlain. You would think that we'd be hit hard, given the location. And yes, there were torrential rains and intense winds. Lots of leaves and twigs landed in my yard. My porch leaked in a couple of spots - enough to make a couple of wet spots on the indoor/outdoor carpeting. I lost nothing except electricity, and consequently, my water pump, for about 24 hours. We thought we were clever little campers filtering rain water to boil spaghetti for dinner, which was eaten by candlelight. I did get a bit stir crazy reading all day. It is amazing how much we do that requires electricity. Luckily I had an iPhone that was charged, so could periodically go online for updates. And we found a radio station operating on a generator that was funneling information from everywhere. The information was not good.
On Sunday poor little landlocked Vermont was taking the brunt of a storm that typically damages coastal areas. Though the largest lake after the Great Lakes is located here, it is unclear that fueled the hurricane. In fact, I've heard about very little damage in the vicinity of the lake. The oversized bucket of water that was Irene poured itself over all the rivers and streams in the hillsides of the Green Mountains, creating flash floods that took out THREE historic covered bridges, countless homes, and several lives. So many paved roads were washed away that thirteen communities were cut off from relief efforts. A wedding party was stranded at the campground the bride attended as a child. The upscale resort town of Killington was inaccessible and vacationers would not be leaving their vacations as planned.
It is only Wednesday and already new dirt roads have been built allowing emergency passage. As awesome as the destruction has been, the response has been even more so. Spontaneous volunteer work crews come together to do whatever needs to be done.
I must say I love the unpredictable spirit of New Englanders far more than I love the unpredictability of New England weather.
