The Storm

The Storm of 2010. What else do they call it? The worst weather-related disaster here in fifty years? The worst in 25 years? Well, basically, the worst in a long time. And we lived through it! People throughout lower Fairfield County lost power for several days. Hotels were sold out for miles around. Some people went away to New York (where things could not have been much better, especially in Westchester County) or to New Jersey to stay with friends and family. Many people had to toss out the contents of their fridges and freezers, a kind of Mother Nature-enforced deep cleaning, I guess.

At the risk of sounding Pollyanna-ish in the face of so much physical destruction and so much disruption to people's lives, may I just say that Fairfield County denizens were amazing! There was no breakdown of law and order. Nobody looted shops and warehouses. Firefighters did what they had to do, electrical workers worked long hours, and it helped that even the most frustrated people who had no power for days did not have meltdowns, at least not in public. Community spirit showed itself in the quiet opening of doors to friends and neighbors. Larger meals were cooked, more showers were taken in many households, and life went on despite the stress and the strain of being homeless, so to speak. Restaurants and hotels did fabulous business, of course, and the libraries were the gathering ground of hundreds. On Monday, I couldn't even park in the library's lot because there were so many people there.

How did we fare? Well, we were very fortunate, because we only lost power for one hour on Monday. We did have friends staying with us, which was fine because we drank wine and tea and ate cookies and pie. And the children just loved the extended sleepover-cum-playdate. We do have a pine tree in the neighbor's yard that is leaning over into our property, but the power's still on and one of these days, CL&P will take care of the tree. I'm not complaining.