5 Days Post Sandy

Well, on Monday Sandy tried to knock Long Island down.  Today is Saturday and though we are still without power and have empty gas tanks in our cars, we are still able to revel in the beauty of mid-fall.

I took this picture from Serenity's bow this evening.  I was reading in the pilothouse (yes, reading as in sitting in 1 place) when I looked up, grabbed my camera and took this picture - and this one...

In fact, while I was searching for a cell signal late Tuesday afternoon, I drove to the beach near our marina where folks said they were able to get a signal (I was unsuccessful).  The tranquility of the scene less than 24 hours after Sandy roared through was astounding.  Out came the camera to capture the moment - and to again thank my blessings to even be there and have the ability to take this picture.  It's all about the simple things in life that we take for granted.

 Today a dock neighbor and I took a walk to do do something normal - we got our nails done!  What was amazing is that the salon was packed with people trying to do the same thing - return to their pre-Sandy lives when we hopped into our cars and thought nothing of driving to a supermarket to get fresh food.  We did all this without constantly checking our gas gauge and feeling a knot in our stomachs as the needle edged from full to half to a quarter full tank.  It is gratifying to see signs in windows of salons with power offering free hot shampoos.  Although not many make a full stop at non-working traffic signal intersections, drivers will allow each other some courtesies when all arrive simultaneously at an intersection.  The usual hand gestures are absent as is the deafening cacaphony of blaring horns.

One of our dock neighbors stood on our dock box and took this picture of the dock on Sunday evening - before Sandy made her entrance.  We were told today that the reason the dock lights are not yet on is because the lights were filled with water.  The water actually rose to the top of the dock pilings.  We (and our boats) were fortunate that the water didn't rise beyond the pilings to which are boats are tied.  The docks float, but they can only float so far before the unthinkable happens.

As I post this, we are hearing that the governor has lifted the obstacles to getting oil tankers unloaded into terminals so that fuel trucks can get desperately needed gas into our local gas pumps.  I can withstand many things, but the inability to get to my grandson and horse are not among them.

I hope that my local followers and their families are safe and will soon be looking back on this experience as a lesson to value all that is important in our lives.