As I settle to write this post, I sip my hot tea and listen as Mumford & Sons flirt with the bangs of the heater. The result is lovely. A comfortable blending of sounds that remind you that you’re home. I finished dinner a short while ago; butternut squash ravioli in a nice parmesan sauce. I picked it up today on a little jaunt to the grocery store where I also bought some orange juice and Coke. I occasionally have a little craving for Coke…a craving that’s never shared with Pepsi. At Home Depot today I finally bought a couple curtain rods so I can quit inadvertently flashing the janitor across the way. Since my desk sits by a window, the curtains should help the heater keep me warm tonight as I write and the temperature continues to drop. My apartment is rather lovely right now. The lamps emit a nice glow and a warm cinnamon scent emanates from the candle flame dancing on my kitchen island. In the next hour or so, before I drift away to a comfortable sleep, I’ll probably do my second session of pilates for the day.
And in the background, as has been for the last couple of days, a running televised commentary will remind me that this is not just a lazy Saturday.
An article in The Atlantic noted how, for some of us in New York City right now, today has been amazingly normal. Very true.
The reports coming in are devastating. Much of lower Manhattan remains without power and I have friends not only entering their second night of darkness but also displaced by flooding. Like many in the city, I can’t return to work until the power is restored. And we have all seen the images coming in throughout the surrounding area.
I spent this day doing the only things that I knew to do. If I didn’t think too much on it, it was just another weekend. Literally blocks away from me the reality is so vastly different: it is clearly a displaced weekday struggling to regain its footing.
One thing that I thought a lot about today as I strolled through Duane Reade and watched traffic move along the Queensboro Bridge, is how easy it is for people to dismiss that which does not directly affect them. The worst things in the world can go on around you but, unless it actually punches you in the face, it can be astonishingly easy to simply keep on going.
Why is that? I know why…but, I don’t all the same.
A few years ago, the town of 9,500 people where I went to high school was overwhelmed when the nearby river flooded. For a few days, the town was an actual island. While I experienced flooding as a child, it had never reached this magnitude. Homes were destroyed, cars were underwater, pets were abandoned. This is an area of farmland. An area where the average yearly salary equals the monthly of some of my friends. Five years later, portions of the area still struggle to rebuild.
And none of my friends on the east coast knew anything about it. Sure, they saw the weather and the headlines but, understandably, nothing tied them to the area…nothing demanded anything more than a passing nod of sympathy. They couldn’t actually speak of it. And who’s to blame them.
More recently, Nashville was among the hardest hit when flash floods rocked the south. With the exception of hurricanes, it’s among the worst natural disasters to hit the US. I followed that story intensely from my Korean home and struggled to explain to my co-workers why this story was so upsetting for me. But, understandably, it wasn’t in their frame of reference. Google “We Are Nashville” for the blog post and videos. They are gut-wrenchingly beautiful and show the desolation of the city while also conveying the city’s resiliency.
We have all heard about Katrina and I’m sure it will be a lifetime at least before our memories of Sandy begin to fade. I spoke on the phone with a friend today who mentioned that, perhaps, given that this has happened in New York City, more serious attention will be given to climate change. Perhaps.
There is the part of me worrying about my friends, frantically sending out texts and messages when my mind stumbles upon someone else I’ve not heard from. I spent a lot of yesterday fretting over the homeless guy who spends the bulk of his time a couple blocks from my apartment; wondering if he made it somewhere else okay. And, of course, there is the part of me that cannot turn the television off…even though, luckily, the story has not changed much since last night.
And then, there is the part of me that falls back on it is what it is and life goes on. But, then again, it’s easy to say that while sitting in warmth, sipping tea and basking in the soft glow of a lamp after a nice shower.
Soundtrack: Pandora’s melodious blend interjected with ABCNews.
Lessons from Icarus 
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