To catch you up, I was on vacation last week (went camping with a group of teen girls from church, got rained on a lot), we had an earthquake earlier this week, and this weekend we’re expecting a hurricane. So as you can imagine, between those things I’ve been mostly just working away at my spring 2012 books, getting them ready for copyediting, and working toward acquiring the next seasons.
I’ve had a number of friends and family ask if I’ll be in the path of the hurricane and whether I’ll be all right (hi, Mom!), so I figured posting here, which propagates to Facebook, Twitter, and LJ, should kill several birds with one stone. Short version: I’m good.
Long version:
I live in Inwood, a neighborhood far to the north on the island of Manhattan. I live on a hill, and on the 5th floor of my building. Not the highest hill, and not a high enough floor to be worried about exponentially high winds (you have to be above the 10th floor for the worst of it), so I’m pretty confident that if the hurricane is only a Category 1 by the time it hits us, as predicted, that I’ll be fine. Just pray that it loses intensity as it comes north, right?
I’m in Evacuation Zone C—and just at the border of it, really–so that means that I won’t be evacuated unless the hurricane is at least a Category 3. They’ve evacuated Zone A, which is the low-lying areas in lower Manhattan and Long Island, but so far they’re not expecting much else besides high winds, flooding, and lots of rain in the rest of New York City. I’m keeping my eye on the news, though, just in case. But the news also likes to scaremonger, so don’t believe half of what they say. There are plenty of evacuation centers that will be safe to be at, in the worst case scenario—which I don’t anticipate.
I live on the lee side of the building, so I think I’ll be fine wind-wise, too, but if all goes to heck, I’m keeping a bag by the door along with the cat carrier, which honestly I don’t think I’ll need, but better safe than sorry.
And my apartment has a nice feature of a long windowless hallway at the front door, so if I need to shelter from a broken window or something like that, I have a place to hide. A smelly place—that’s where the litter box is!—but smelly is better than cold and wet (worst case scenario).
But that’s all worst-case-scenario. What I’m really expecting is a weekend in watching TV and movies in the midst of a bad thunderstorm/windstorm during which I’m not going to want to leave the house, which aside from the rain is not all that different from most weekends for me. I’ve baked some cookies, I have a nice stock of Fruit Roll-ups and granola bars if both the gas and the electricity are disrupted, I have 4 gallons of drinking water set aside (which I’ve been doing regularly anyway due to the frustration of my neighborhood in the summer, when all the hydrants are opened for literally weeks to months on end and I am likely to lose water for days at a time at any moment), and I’m going to wash the tub and fill it in the morning in the case of needing that water for flushing. Tomorrow’s project involves making onigiri (Japanese rice balls) as well, which are great for picnics, so they’d be great for hunkering down from a hurricane, too. And I have plans tomorrow to cook up the ingredients for curry which have been sitting around almost too long, as well, because what else am I going to spend the day doing? Though I’m worried about the potatoes being rotten and I just threw out the carrots, so I might make a quick trip to the corner grocery in the morning–where I might grab another gallon of water just in case, if they’re not completely out the way that Target was earlier tonight.
It’s also incentive to get the camera out to take pictures of everything I own, just in case–I got an email from my renter’s insurance telling me this was a good idea, and it’s a good idea whether or not something bad happens during the hurricane, so it’s a project I can take up. And believe me, if there’s anything I have plenty of it’s books, so I will certainly not get bored if the power goes out as long as I have a light source.
Church services for my church have been cancelled all over NYC, which is a relief that they’re not asking anyone to figure out how to get to church without public transportation in the middle of a gale.
So, I’m just going to relax—or try to—and entertain myself for a while, maybe do some laundry in the morning so I don’t have to worry about it during the storm (which isn’t supposed to hit us until Sunday), and not plan to go anywhere. But if I do have to go somewhere, there are places in my neighborhood set up for evacuations (schools, etc.). The only thing that worries me a tiny bit is the worst-worst-worst case scenario of needing to get off the island, since I don’t have a car and the trains/buses will be shut down at noon tomorrow. But I really don’t think it’ll come to that, so don’t worry about me!
Hope all is well in my hometown!
There are so many people who live in Inwood now – like half the publishing community seems to be there or Wash Heights. Go Almost Bronx! I lived off 204th. Prior to that, I didn’t even know Manhattan had 200’s.
Heh, most people I talk to don’t have a clue where Inwood is when I mention it. They think it must be in Queens or something. It’s easier even with native NYers to say “I live at the top tip of Manhattan.”
Went fine here, though it’s a different story in the greater suburban area and further north.
Glad I’m in California! But I will think good thoughts and say some prayers for all you on the East Coast. Um…camping with teens girls from church…church cancelling services throughout the state…hmmm…I think you and I just might have something in common, Stacy. Does the question – what ward are you in? make any sense?
Also, I’m loving Galaxy Games. I plan to review it on my blog in a few weeks. So far it is terrific!
Laurisa, I talk about being a BYU alum a lot around here, so no worries—I’m pretty open about being a Mormon.
That is so cool! I had no idea. I have to ask, with all your interest in racial diversity – did you serve a mission?
No, I didn’t serve a mission. I thought about it, but it never felt like the right thing for me (though I was a stake missionary for 18 months when I was 20-ish…).
Actually, the world came to me, in the form of BYU roommates and, later, grad school roommates. My first non-white roommates were two women who were born in Laos (but came here as kids), and later over the course of my years living around the corner from the ESL school at BYU, I had two Brazilians, two Koreans, one Mexican for roommates, along with 3 Canadians (obviously not here to learn English) and one black Londoner. They all brought their culture with them, of course, and taught me a lot. And over those years I also had African American and Asian American roommates, too. At one point I counted up the roommates I’ve had over the course of 20 years (I’ve been living away from home since I was 17), and I lost track of the count at 60, so that’s a wide variety of people to have lived with!
Then in grad school I roomed with a Belgian and a Japanese Brazilian, and I’ve had friends and neighbors from China, Japan, Scotland, and a number of other places around the world, as well.
When you have friends from all over the world, it’s almost impossible not to learn that not everyone has the same perspective, and it’s certainly more fun to find out what their perspective is than to keep blinders on.
My next goal, which I’ve been meaning to do since college, is to do a trip around the world during which I’d go visit all those old roommates! 🙂 Next year’s goal is to visit Korea.
An earthquake and a hurricane? Sounds like an adventure novel. Take care and I hope all goes well. Let us know how it goes and that you’re okay afterwards.
Good luck!!! We are having a thunderstorm here in Orem, Utah… and I am PRETENDING it is a hurricane. Because our lights flickered.