Explore: After the Storm

Just a wet, abnormally quiet morning.

Well, that happened.

I am awestruck at how badly Sandy got the city, in the truest sense of the word. I'm at home, and working - ish. As much as I can. I work from home anyway, so you'd think that this could almost just be viewed as another Tuesday, except for the fact that I've become virtually incapable of doing anything but refreshing my news feed.

Being uptown has kept me very sheltered. My apartment is warm, dry, and with power and internet. We had a few flickering lights last night, and a very unsettled cat, but that was as bad as it got. I've been pleased with our decision to move many times since we did, and right now is no exception - especially considering it looks like I could well be spending the rest of the week up here.

 I used to live by the hospital that had to be evacuated. I wouldn't have been there if I still lived there - the building was evacuated yesterday, and it sounds like the building management gave the tenants no choice in the matter - but I'm not too sure where I would have been. Any of our friends would have taken us in, but (like us) most of our friends live in Manhattan-sized apartments (read: pretty teeny-tiny) so I guess there would have been quite the amount of crowding. Crowding and no electricity, probably, as most of them also live downtown. A recipe for lasting friendship?*

As it is, we are totally safe, and well aware of how lucky we are to be so. We took a little walk in our neighbourhood this morning, already sick of being cooped up in our apartment for two days** and apart from a lot of leaves and twigs and other debris*** on the ground, all is calm, and proceeding as normal. The doormen are cleaning the footpaths in front of their buildings. People are walking their dogs, and other people are out running. Donald Trump is still d-bagging all over Twitter.

A little debris on Riverside Drive...

...and in the park, dog HEAVEN

From this vantage point uptown, it's hard to imagine what is happening in other parts of the city, but...it is. Unbelievable, constantly updating news feed or no.

*In our case, yes, most likely. This is why you make friends with decent people. I wonder if everyone can say that with such confidence?

**Yet another reason why it's a good thing H1 and I like each other so much.

***Dog HEAVEN.