We Are Doing Well

Thanks to our friends who called and emailed and texted from all over the country.  We truly appreciate your concern.  Our 1927 Craftsman home, just a block from Peconic Bay, weathered the storm like a trooper.  We lost a few roof shingles, which Pete has already replaced, and we had a thick carpet of small branches, leaves,  and pine needles to clean up, but life is back to normal for us.  Our little village, with its own power station and utility crew, was without electricity for only very short periods of time.  The rest of Long Island is not so lucky as customers of the Long Island Power Association.  Yesterday, more than 100,000 homes between here and Manhattan were without power. 

Our friends Paula and Ann, who live even closer to the Bay than we do, evacuated to our house for the duration of the storm, along with their friend Miranda.  It was very festive to have them here.  We chatted and knitted and cooked and ate and answered lots of phone calls from concerned family and friends.  Pete made waffles for breakfast the morning after to celebrate Miranda's birthday.  Ann emailed me this morning and called our house the "Happy Heaven Hurricane Hotel" -- how funny is that?  

My sister Barb has not faired as well.  Her house is just yards from Long Island Sound.  After having experienced the wrath of Irene last year, she evacuated early on Sunday in preparation for Sandy's arrival.  She hopes to regain access to her house today to assess the water damage, but the electricity is still out.  She was without power for 7 days after Irene.  If she is allowed to move back in, she will need to spend the weekend putting her house back together, so we will not be participating in the New England Fiber Festival this weekend as planned.  

Today I am counting my blessings and sending kind thoughts and positive energy and a donation to those who have suffered so terribly this week, especially the more than 100 families in the lovely little seaside enclave of Breezy Point whose homes burned to the ground right before their eyes, and to all the friends and families of the people who lost their lives as a result of the storm.  It is incongruous to me that a storm that has destroyed so much can have a name as sweet as "Sandy."