October 30, 2012

Stormy Thoughts

What a strange night it was watching the storm from a distance through social media (Twitter mostly) as it descended upon the East Coast. Despite severe weather warnings here, we were very lucky. There were thousands in Quebec without power this morning but damage was minor. In our neighbourhood, everything was intact.

I found it odd that we were looking at a beautiful and serene Hunter's Moon while the weather was so ferocious elsewhere. I took this photo this morning. I would have taken more but Meeko somehow got it into his head that the tripod was attacking me and wouldn't stop barking at it. Or at least, I think that was what he was thinking.

Then, he spent a good part of the morning staring out the window. I'm curious what he was thinking about then too (apart from squirrels and maybe the tripod).

I know what I was thinking about last night and this morning. I was thinking how lucky we were not to have been affected by the storm. We were evacuated from our home for 10 days during the Ice Storm of 1998 and we felt the effects long after the storm had faded away. There were good things, as families spent more quiet time together because of not having electricity, and there were bad things, that even children who were in the womb at the time suffered long-term effects from the stress. Emma was three at the time and we stayed in three different homes over the course of 10 days. My heart goes out to those who have been affected and displaced by the storm. It will take a long time to recover from the physical and psychological effects of Sandy. And there's stuff that isn't important in the scale of things but I know that there are little kids sad to be missing school and maybe even trick-or-treating.

I was also thinking about a chihuahua and her owner last night as I knew that little dog who was lost three weeks ago now in Brooklyn would be top of mind for Danielle during the storm.  Little Myrtle is in my thoughts every day.

And I thought about how odd it is and not really right, that we are hit harder sometimes when we know the place that is devastated in a natural disaster. I guess it's because it deals with the familiar. It's not that we don't care about the disasters that occur far, far way. I donate to international disaster relief when and if I can, as I'm sure you do too. It's just harder somehow when we know and identify with the landmarks, the geography and the people.

Meeko perked up a little this afternoon and then resumed his contemplative mood. It was just that kind of day.




7 comments:

  1. Nature sure is powerful and overwhelming at times, glad you didn´t get that affected by it all this time - but sad for those families who have lost a loved one.

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    1. Nature is definitely unpredictable and so full of contradictions.

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  2. We have had such a lot of news about the hurricane passing through New York etc, it is quite shocking to see, I wondered how you all might be affected? I can't quite imagine such devastation. Our worst weather is probably the snow of 2 winters back, when we couldn't get about too well for weeks!I have seen the effects of an ice storm on trees, it is really shocking, like a nuclear blast??? Weather and nature are so amazing, respect must be given!
    Meeko can look both very distinguished and very cutely dishevelled all in one day, but he's just gorgeous!Hope you all stay safe,will you get the snow?? :)

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    Replies
    1. Weather can certainly play havoc our lives.

      You are right about Meeko. He can look like a mop-top and a distinguished gent, all in one day. He also wakes up with the silliest hairdos. :)

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  3. We've had constant coverage of the devastation - so hard to imgaine when we have summer on our doorstep.

    Glad you're all safe and sound.

    Meeko is King of the Pumpkin People!

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  4. this is what i miss from being out of the blogosphere for so long. ^_^

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  5. Meeko's sooooooooooo cute.

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