New Yorkers have gotten a little taste of some things that many in other parts of the country are all too familiar with. We had a minor earthquake (more like a tremor from Virginia's earthquake) last week and people were really freaking out! I'm from California so I've seen a few earthquakes and even slept through one. Earthquake drills were pretty standard in school so I know to take cover and stay put if it's a bad quake. It was kind of crazy to me that people were running outside when they felt the quake. Clearly, New Yorkers are just not prepared for this kind of thing... And now, here we are waiting for Irene, a category 1 hurricane to come shake things up. I went to Duane Reade and it was a madhouse! The supermarket was even worse. People are stocking up on all sorts of items especially water and batteries. I read in the Times that Pop Tarts are the #1 "emergency food" being sold? Okay, okay, I bought some pop tarts too :) But mostly because comfort snacks really help when I am nervous... and I admit, I am kind of nervous about this storm.
I think the main reason we freak out about natural disasters is that we have zero control over them. We are basically at the mercy of God and we have to do what we can to stay safe and cling to our loved ones and say a couple prayers because in a world where we take so much power into our own hands, nature reminds us gently (or sometimes harshly) that the power is really not in our hands at all.
A friend posted this picture on Facebook of a completely empty Grand Central Terminal... I thought it was beautiful. Beautiful because if anything at all, Hurricane Irene is forcing NYC to just calm down for a minute. Slow down... stay home with your loved ones and slow the heck down already! We've been needing that for a while.
Tonight, I realize how blessed I am to have a place to wait out the storm. My prayers are with those who have no home, no family, and nowhere to go.
Stay safe NYC - XO,
~A
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