48 Hours Later

Forty-eight hours ago I was sitting in a room at the Howard Johnson in Long Island City, surrounded by colleagues and it was almost the moment -- 8:12 P.M. -- for high tide. The water and wind were rising, and all the houses in Breezy Point were intact.  In the interim the subways stopped running and water filled some of the tunnels, three friends have lost their homes and over 80 houses burned in Breezy. We are still unsure about the condition of my friends' house. He was hoping to go out there this afternoon and I've asked him to guest blog with photos. I'm not sure if he will, but I know he has been touched by the concern of the citizens of Buttercupland.

I finally came home from work this afternoon to a lovely fall day. There was very little damage to be seen in my neighborhood, and simply by the look of things you would have no idea that one of the biggest storms in history had passed through less than two full days before.

The subway station is still closed, but this line will be running tomorrow to 42nd St. There is no power below that with which to run subways. 

The neighborhood Time Warner office lost a window, but that was the only broken window I saw in a half mile walk. 

My thoughts through the last few days were that I wanted a vacation, a massage and a drink and not in that order. The vacation will have to wait and I hope to get a massage over the weekend. The drink was easy to do, but instead I chose a visit to the new frozen yogurt store a few blocks from my apartment. I had some very tasty pumpkin yogurt and Heath Bar topping and felt very well treated. It's not a trip to New Orleans, but I'm happy to make do with the treat in hand. 

I know we New Yorkers are resilient, but I'm beginning to feel stretched a little too thin. I'm not a worn out rubber band about to snap, but I'd love a few less stretches. Again, all my thanks for the kind words, email, virtual hugs and wonderful feelings of support. My friends, colleagues and I cannot begin to thank you!