The Calm Before the Storm

As hurricane Earl careens toward the Eastern seaboard, their is a slight hum going around town. This is the same hum that you can feel before a Nor'Easter (big snow storm). It's the hum of excited anticipation. I am not sure if this happens in other parts of the country, but I think New Englanders actually like the anticipation of a good storm. It's exciting. It's something to talk about. It's an excuse to hunker down, eat junk food by candlelight and listen to the wind blow around.

My experiences with hurricanes are both memorable.

Gloria hit in the fall of 1985. I was enjoying my freshman year at Bates College in Maine. We had a big window in our room and had to tape it up with duct tape. The upperclassmen in my dorm, got a keg or 2, put it in the basement and had a hurricane party for the dorm. We stayed up all night and once the wind started to die down, I convinced the only freshman I knew with a car to take 5 of us to my summer house in Ogunquit (about 1 1/2 hours away) to make sure it was ok. My house was fine, but some of the hotels on the water didn't fare so well. We watched the sun rise near Nubble Light in York and it was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen.

Bob hit in August of 1991. By this point, I was living on Cape Cod. Most of my friends were fishermen with trucks and boats. Matt and his brother spent the night on their boat tucked into a small inlet. They did this by choice, they felt that they could protect their livelihood by being with it and willing it to survive the storm. They did and it did. The thing I remember most is driving around town early the next morning and surveying the damage. The smell in the air was incredible. It was an overwhelming smell of fresh wood. Unfortunately, it was because so many trees fell and chainsaws were clearing them out of the streets. I had never seen so many trees uprooted from the ground. There were boats on beaches, flooding so much that houses were moved off their foundations and green leaves everywhere. That was the year that fall came early without even changing color.

So now we wait and stayed glued to the Weather Channel. I have to chuckle every time they show the 7 day forecast because it shows rain and wind for Friday and Saturday. Yeah, just a little rain and wind. I certainly don't wish for hurricanes or bad storms, but I do like the buzz beforehand. I hit the grocery store yesterday to grab an extra water, a loaf of bread, chocolate chips(definitely need brownies for a storm!) and some cold cuts. I was there before the big rush that will probably be later today and definitely tomorrow morning, if indeed Earl decides to vacation on Cape Cod. A friend of mine said D size batteries had already been sold out by yesterday afternoon and by tonight there won't be a flashlight within 20 miles.

I will be sure to have my camera charged and ready to go for when the sun shines the next day as if nothing had happened.