Sandy

We are so lucky.  My husband and I have not been affected by the terrible superstorm Sandy.  So, so many lives have been turned upside down.  It could have been us instead.  All I can say is that I feel SO lucky.  I can't explain why were we untouched, but my heart goes out to those who have been impacted.  Our home remains open to friends who need a warm shower, a homemade meal, power to recharge, or somewhere to lay their head.  The problem is so many of them can't even get here.

These are the images we saw on the news as we battened down the hatches.  A 1,000 mile wide storm headed right towards us during a full moon and high tide...

Everything shut down preparing for the worst.  Grand Central is always bustling with a blur of people.  Here you only see a couple of security guards standing in the terminal.

We didn't get much rain.  We heard intense gusts of wind whistling through the streets right outside our window.  Then we started to see images on the news and facebook of the impact of the storm.  A building facade ripped off.  Yes, those are radiators, dressers, beds, etc. now exposed to the street. 

And a nearby crane dangling 90 stories in the air.  Again, I felt lucky.  I felt just out of harms way of the crane.  It is only three blocks north and about five avenues west of where we live.  I used to work only two blocks away from where this is located.

We heard a lot of sirens in the distance.  Then, we could see flashing lights through the closed drapes.  We peered out and saw police line tape closing off Lexington Avenue right outside our window.  We didn't know what it was for until daylight the next day.  We could look out our windows and see six-foot glass windows had blown out of neighboring skyscrapers.  Once I again I felt lucky.

We saw images online that a transformer had blown downtown and below 39th Street was now without power.  Our lights flickered once but stayed on, and I felt so lucky.

Late into the night and the next day the images kept pouring in.  Just like how Sandy poured into the streets, subways, homes, and businesses along the east coast.

And if all of the flooding wasn't enough, then we heard the story of Breezy Point, Queens where a fire left the neighborhood looking like a war zone.  I feel lucky to be alive.  I feel lucky to have a warm shower and food.  So many others are not as lucky as us.  To help those in need, you may donate to the Red Cross.