Greening & Gardening

I live on the North Shore of Long Island where we are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Irene.  I admit that the above video is limited in scope, but it is simply meant to be a view of Hurricane Irene from my doorway, the windows of my house and on my block -- what many of us living in the "burbs" experienced during the storm.  On the North Shore of Nassau County, most are still without electricity.  I must say that the South Shore seemed to be better prepared, but they are more accustomed to flooding than we are.   I am now at my vacation home upstate NY where, miraculously, my community did not lose electricity, although all of the surrounding communities in the area seem to still be under water. 
 
It's been a long time between hurricanes for those of us living here in the East.  Relatives and friends who live in Florida and North Carolina began calling a day or two before Irene was due to arrive to give me pointers on important things to do to make sure that we were well prepared for the storm.  Most of it was common sense -- i.e., have flashlights and candles readily available.  Since I have an electric stove I was told to make sure that I had food available that didn't have to be heated up.  I was also told to put water in my bathtub, which I did, but I'm still not sure why and don't know exactly what that was supposed to be for.  I never needed it and never used it.
 
I had forgotten what it can be like when groceiry stores run out of food and people begin to panic.  However, although there were definitely some supermarket patrons who were obviously terrified and, thus, somewhat agitated on the eve of the storm, for most of us there was a definite spirit of cooperation in the air.  It's actually been my experience in New York that people do come together in emergencies and try to help each other out.  That was particularly noticeable after 9/11, and certainly was true in connection with Hurricane Irene.
 
The most interesting snapshot I saw at the end of the storm was the sidewalk in front of a neighbor's house -- it was hanging on a tree, up in the air.  You can check it out at the end of the video.  I didn't have my own computer programs available to work with so I'm sorry for the abruptness with which the video ends.  Using a program I was unfamiliar with made getting this video ready somewhat of a challenge and since timeliness was important, I finally just let it go, abrupt as it may be and it is online, warts and all.
 
I don't mean to be inhospitable or unsociable, but I can attest to the fact that we, on Long Island, were happy to say "Goodnight Irene" and while we may like company, we most certainly did not hate to see her go!