What a week this has been! The earthquake, thank God, was more of a "wow, that's cool" and "it'll be something to tell our grandchildren" type of moment. Yes, the ground shook, the furniture rattled and the chandelier shook, but that was all and it was over in seconds.
Unlike people of many years ago, we have the benefit of knowing about major weather events like hurricanes far in advance. Thus, our evacuation (and that of millions of others) was ordered from the New Jersey beach where we were on vacation. A 1 1/2-2 hour ride turned into 5 hours. But, in a spirit of gratefulness, I explained to the kiddos that we were leaving a vacation rental, there were people here on the island who were leaving their real homes. I can't imagine their fear of not knowing what they were to face when they returned and packing up only what could fit in their car. I thought of that a moment. What would I take?
We returned to my parents' house since they have a generator. So, unlike many who were spending the night in a shelter, we were in a warm home with food, water and a gassed-up generator. Thank God.
The tornado warnings did come out of nowhere and were frightening. I thought it an ironic end to a crazy week-- what other "natural events" could we possibly experience, well other than a volcano. lol. Not to scare the kids, we made it be an "adventure" and blew up the air mattesses and told them what "fun" they could have camping out in the basement, lol! My parents' basement has a rug and a tv with a dvd player, so they were happy and set for the night. Only their parents worried and watched, as well it should be. And that we did, for hours and hours and hours....
When I awoke in the morning and looked outside, it was eerily still. The rain was no longer pounding, the winds had died down. So, this was the closest to what an "eye" of a storm looks like, I thought. I looked outside, the street was not flooded and the trees were still standing. The electricity was even still on. We were truly blessed.
As I sat to again watch the unending news coverage, I saw devastation, I saw flooding, I saw loss of life. My family was spared and I am grateful beyond words.
"Give thanks to the Lord, proclaim His greatness; tell the nations what He has done..." 1 Chronicles 16:8
We returned to the vacation rental yesterday and my husband will finally get some well deserved vacation days. (he was able to get one week off ) I am so happy that we will be able to spend some family time together.
10 comments:
So glad to hear that you were spared any damage! It can be very scary and hard to put a happy face on. I still remember a particular hurricane drill in the 70s - thank goodness for basements!
Being safe in the hands of God is awesome!
Wow! Glad you all were safe and comfortable! What a week for weather, huh? Irene left us in Maine with no power for 34 hours and a HUGE tree branch dangling onto our garage - no damage - and the power lines to the house. The tree branch is still there, but the power is back. Kids were wonderful! Phew! Thanks for stopping by and commenting on my blog!
So glad that you were okay - and that you are able to continue with your vacation.
I'm glad you were able to get back to your rental to enjoy the rest of your vacation!!
So glad for you ~ vacation sounds wonderful!
glad you are all safe! stopping by from HHH thx for stopping by last week :) enjoy the rest of your vacation!!
Incredible time, right? We'll be talking about this forever.
This reminds me of my childhood. My parents would take something frightening like a storm and make us feel safe and secure by turning it into something fun while they stood watch. It reminds me of the lullaby: I, my loving vigil keeping, all through the night... Glad you are all safe.
Glad you are safe, this will be a vacation the kids will never forget!
We were stationed in Florida for three years, we had a few busy hurricane seasons while living there including a couple of evacuations and plenty of tropical storms we waited out. It was an adventure, but not one I care to repeat!
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