I've lived through hurricanes and blizzards, plus numerous tornado warnings (though never hit by one). The Blizzard of 1978 in Cambridge, Massachusetts was challenging--my husband didn't come home for almost five days. It was just me and our five month old daughter. I had to leave her alone in the house to "wade" through waist-high snow to buy a can of evaporated milk for her--out of formula. (I had a small corner store three houses away--lucky!) The most fortunate part was that we never lost power or had the huge old trees fall on us, both of which I count as miracles.
As a child, I recall losing power for days after some of the 1950s hurricanes that hit the Middle Atlantic--eating beans heated in a fireplace and sleeping on the floor in front of it.
In Cherry Hill, NJ, we experienced Superstorm Sandy (late October, 2012) at a time when we could ill afford for anything expensive to happen to the house. We were up all night bailing the basement to save the HVAC and washer/dryer, but we survived (and we saved them). Lost power for 48 hours and it had turned cold--forties. But, again, we just made do (lots of hot takeout pizza, Wawa Markets coffee and soup, etc.) and slept in layers of clothing with quilts on top.
You never know what you can bear until you experience it.
Lovely, descriptive writing. I have seen the aftermath of our family’s barn, randomly blown away and most everything in it, from a special kid’s bike saved for the next generation to an antique tractor, restored by a grandfather and grandson. No other damage nearby, thankfully. A barn is a significant structure to a farm family and I think of that empty ground when I want to hold on to too many things. I envision the thing being swept up into the air and carried away. It’s easier to let go of my own accord, than to have whatever it is torn from me, in one way or another.
This is beautiful! I was at a conference with my the husband, and our 6 week old daughter, when the 1989 Lona Prieta earthquake hit on Oct 17 1989. I remember thinking “ wow we have this precious new human and our little family” and we are going to die. That’s what it felt like!!!! It still makes me tear up… I had been so worried about what to wear to this convention of my husband’s, for the dinner. Well guess what. We ended up using cloth napkins off the table at a makeshift dinner that evening, to change her diaper! And she was the star of the show. Sitting in the middle of the table! It hit moments before in SF where my Dad was… I called him and seconds later it struck us in San Jose. Thank you again for your beautiful writing. I am in Portland ! Same re prep for the winter , as best as possible .
I can feel your emotion, Shelby. How terrifying! I saw the aftermath of that earthquake when I visited SF a few months later, and it was just mind boggling. It really stuck with me, which is why it showed up eventually in a book, I'm sure.
Barbara, this was lovely. I'm now a hurricane survivor - a term I'd never thought I'd use with a move to Eastern Tennessee two years ago. We're fine. The house is fine. But the devastation around us and the fact we were locked in by flooding for two days hurt my heart. I know others are dealing with worse, but I've learn not to cover up my feelings just because my experience wasn't as bad as someone else's. It's been quite a year and I'm ready for some calm and boring times. :)
Much of my childhood was spent on the southwestern coast of British Columbia and I remember earthquakes and windstorms. The homes we lived in were not damaged, but a child’s perception of danger and damage is limited. As a young adult in Vancouver, B.C., I recall being shaken awake by an earthquake and seeing cracks appear along my apartment walls—scary! Then I moved to Victoria where some years later a windstorm impaled 2x4s several inches into the ground. We were all screaming through that one as we thought the gale would rip off the roof of our farmhouse. The sturdy structure groaned and moaned and creaked, but stayed together. Finally, the great snowstorm of 1996 dropped 2 feet of snow at Christmas across normally balmy Victoria—the drifts were massive! The city came to a standstill for days but thankfully power outages were short. I’ve not experienced major losses from disasters to date. I’ve been blessed and work hard to bring gratitude into my days and reflective prayer for those who have lost far too much. 🕊️
I have not yet experienced an earthquake, but I can image how it would feel to a child. And I have a hard time picturing snow in Victoria, but I can imagine it was quite beautiful once it was all safely over.
Being in an earthquake is disorienting and as a child there’s no perspective to cope with it. The snow in Victoria was indeed gorgeous for a short time. Then it melted as fast as it arrived and we had flooding in parts of the city. 😳
I will never forget being evacuated from our home at the start of the 2012 Colorado Springs wildfire. We live in Cascade and the fire was billowing over the mountain in front of us. We stayed with relatives for 8 days and when we were allowed to come home, we were so worried about what we would find. Thankfully, our home was fine and, if you looked 3 directions around our house, the trees were fine, too! Just looking out the front door did we see most of the trees burned on the mountainside . The firemen did such a wonderful job protecting our home as the fire came half way up the hill leading to our house. They must have kept spraying water because we even had flowers still blooming! I, too, treasure my home and the outside area around it, and never more so than when we were in imminent danger of losing it.
I'm so glad your home survived the fire. I'll never stop mourning the Waldo Canyon trail. It was always my favorite. That fire remains one of my touchstones of terror. My poor husband was sheltering dogs at his dog boarding facility and one terrifed baby bit him in the face. Luckily, an Army medic happened to be in the building and cleaned and taped his wounds so he could keep working.
Oh! Sorry for typos and… I neglected to mention that at the time we lived in Mammoth Lakes , California.. where there are its own geographical and weather event concerns… it just felt ironic that we left town and…. 🙂. And… we were several stories up in a big new hotel that ….. shook. A lot.
I'm grateful everyday. I had to practice to be aware of how much I have and be grateful. Even on days when it's hard I try and try to find something to be grateful for.
I've been a few disasters and I never forget them or how they make me feel vulnerable and in disbelief that anything could be so destructive.
I've lived through hurricanes and blizzards, plus numerous tornado warnings (though never hit by one). The Blizzard of 1978 in Cambridge, Massachusetts was challenging--my husband didn't come home for almost five days. It was just me and our five month old daughter. I had to leave her alone in the house to "wade" through waist-high snow to buy a can of evaporated milk for her--out of formula. (I had a small corner store three houses away--lucky!) The most fortunate part was that we never lost power or had the huge old trees fall on us, both of which I count as miracles.
As a child, I recall losing power for days after some of the 1950s hurricanes that hit the Middle Atlantic--eating beans heated in a fireplace and sleeping on the floor in front of it.
In Cherry Hill, NJ, we experienced Superstorm Sandy (late October, 2012) at a time when we could ill afford for anything expensive to happen to the house. We were up all night bailing the basement to save the HVAC and washer/dryer, but we survived (and we saved them). Lost power for 48 hours and it had turned cold--forties. But, again, we just made do (lots of hot takeout pizza, Wawa Markets coffee and soup, etc.) and slept in layers of clothing with quilts on top.
You never know what you can bear until you experience it.
Quite a few! How terrifying to have to leave your baby daughter to get milk!
It was. It was either leave her for fifteen minutes (it took forever to slog through the waist high snow), or let her go hungry.
Lovely, descriptive writing. I have seen the aftermath of our family’s barn, randomly blown away and most everything in it, from a special kid’s bike saved for the next generation to an antique tractor, restored by a grandfather and grandson. No other damage nearby, thankfully. A barn is a significant structure to a farm family and I think of that empty ground when I want to hold on to too many things. I envision the thing being swept up into the air and carried away. It’s easier to let go of my own accord, than to have whatever it is torn from me, in one way or another.
Tornadoes are a weather event that freak me out, I have to admit. The science is better now, but they do just seem to arrive so suddenly.
This is beautiful! I was at a conference with my the husband, and our 6 week old daughter, when the 1989 Lona Prieta earthquake hit on Oct 17 1989. I remember thinking “ wow we have this precious new human and our little family” and we are going to die. That’s what it felt like!!!! It still makes me tear up… I had been so worried about what to wear to this convention of my husband’s, for the dinner. Well guess what. We ended up using cloth napkins off the table at a makeshift dinner that evening, to change her diaper! And she was the star of the show. Sitting in the middle of the table! It hit moments before in SF where my Dad was… I called him and seconds later it struck us in San Jose. Thank you again for your beautiful writing. I am in Portland ! Same re prep for the winter , as best as possible .
I can feel your emotion, Shelby. How terrifying! I saw the aftermath of that earthquake when I visited SF a few months later, and it was just mind boggling. It really stuck with me, which is why it showed up eventually in a book, I'm sure.
Lovely! Made me think of the song from the movie King Arthur. We will go home. Beautiful. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6hoyDQ3LeTU
Thank you for this song. ❤️
Barbara, this was lovely. I'm now a hurricane survivor - a term I'd never thought I'd use with a move to Eastern Tennessee two years ago. We're fine. The house is fine. But the devastation around us and the fact we were locked in by flooding for two days hurt my heart. I know others are dealing with worse, but I've learn not to cover up my feelings just because my experience wasn't as bad as someone else's. It's been quite a year and I'm ready for some calm and boring times. :)
I’m so glad to hear you’re fine, but also—yes, quite a trauma! Take care of yourself as weak as you can.
Much of my childhood was spent on the southwestern coast of British Columbia and I remember earthquakes and windstorms. The homes we lived in were not damaged, but a child’s perception of danger and damage is limited. As a young adult in Vancouver, B.C., I recall being shaken awake by an earthquake and seeing cracks appear along my apartment walls—scary! Then I moved to Victoria where some years later a windstorm impaled 2x4s several inches into the ground. We were all screaming through that one as we thought the gale would rip off the roof of our farmhouse. The sturdy structure groaned and moaned and creaked, but stayed together. Finally, the great snowstorm of 1996 dropped 2 feet of snow at Christmas across normally balmy Victoria—the drifts were massive! The city came to a standstill for days but thankfully power outages were short. I’ve not experienced major losses from disasters to date. I’ve been blessed and work hard to bring gratitude into my days and reflective prayer for those who have lost far too much. 🕊️
I have not yet experienced an earthquake, but I can image how it would feel to a child. And I have a hard time picturing snow in Victoria, but I can imagine it was quite beautiful once it was all safely over.
Being in an earthquake is disorienting and as a child there’s no perspective to cope with it. The snow in Victoria was indeed gorgeous for a short time. Then it melted as fast as it arrived and we had flooding in parts of the city. 😳
I will never forget being evacuated from our home at the start of the 2012 Colorado Springs wildfire. We live in Cascade and the fire was billowing over the mountain in front of us. We stayed with relatives for 8 days and when we were allowed to come home, we were so worried about what we would find. Thankfully, our home was fine and, if you looked 3 directions around our house, the trees were fine, too! Just looking out the front door did we see most of the trees burned on the mountainside . The firemen did such a wonderful job protecting our home as the fire came half way up the hill leading to our house. They must have kept spraying water because we even had flowers still blooming! I, too, treasure my home and the outside area around it, and never more so than when we were in imminent danger of losing it.
I'm so glad your home survived the fire. I'll never stop mourning the Waldo Canyon trail. It was always my favorite. That fire remains one of my touchstones of terror. My poor husband was sheltering dogs at his dog boarding facility and one terrifed baby bit him in the face. Luckily, an Army medic happened to be in the building and cleaned and taped his wounds so he could keep working.
Oh! Sorry for typos and… I neglected to mention that at the time we lived in Mammoth Lakes , California.. where there are its own geographical and weather event concerns… it just felt ironic that we left town and…. 🙂. And… we were several stories up in a big new hotel that ….. shook. A lot.
That would be pretty freaky, for sure!
Barbara- I love the premise of showing deep appreciation of the finer things that occupy our life. Bed and family included.
I'm grateful everyday. I had to practice to be aware of how much I have and be grateful. Even on days when it's hard I try and try to find something to be grateful for.
I've been a few disasters and I never forget them or how they make me feel vulnerable and in disbelief that anything could be so destructive.
I had to learn, too. Maybe it’s something that you gain as time goes by.
I love your mom's lists! Such a good idea--I might borrow that.
You're right, the bottom line is to be as prepared as possible and hope for the best.