Returning to the 21st century from the Middle Ages (see
Where's Bob archive) caused quite a stir. No sooner did
I settle into an on-site writing project in Gotham when
the shaking began. At first I thought I had a little too
much kickapoo joy juice at happy hour the night before,
but it soon became evident that it was the building, not
me, that was shaking. The motion built in waves and,
looking out a 14th floor window at terra not so firma, I
thought it'd be nice for this interesting natural event to
stop. After nearly a minute it did. And when the building
evacuated to a nearby park, a really rare occurrence
took place. New Yorkers dropped their masks of
indifference and began talking with perfect strangers
around them! Such a change surely was an omen, so
when Hurricane Irene threatened the city later that week
I took the forecast very seriously. Hoboken, N.J., floods
with a heavy morning dew. It's mostly landfill with my
suite in the very lowest part of town. Henry Hudson
could well have sailed the Half Moon over my building
site in the fjord between the mainland and Hoboken
Island. So I filled Sanya the Jeep with valuables and
headed for Long Island to ride out the storm and to keep
an eye on a property out there. It was a good decision.
Although some trees were knocked down, power stayed
on during the storm. Flood water crept toward the
house, but receded quickly after high tide passed.
Basement flooding was no worse than that after a
typical heavy rainstorm. Returning to Hoboken the
following day was a surprise that should have been
expected. The street was still blocked off as Lake
Jackson in front of my building made the roadway
impassible. The basement had flooded to nearly 4 feet,
knocking out the boiler that provides hot water to units.
After a nippy shower that would have staved off any
effects of too much joy juice it was back to working on
words as usual. Normalcy never seemed so nice.
Enlarge
Mouse over
for captions
Bob Sterner
photos © 2011
