“We’ve been through worse, I’m sure,” I said
remembering the days before computer models,
24 hours of coverage and thinking of how no one
would believe "the weather" having its own channel.
Twitter, Facebook, handheld baby computers, and
cell phones all keep us up to date, well informed.
All day we watched green, yellow, red splotches swirl
counterclockwise on a 52 inch screen and listened to
predictions more accurate than airport arrival times.
Years ago experts didn’t have to tell us what to buy.
We understood the dangers of a storm at the shore.
We knew what to do when the lights went out.
We’d light candles and sit listening to the downpours
knowing we’d be alright, it was just water and wind.
We’d hear the stories of past destructive hurricanes.
We’d head inland if we expected it to be real bad to
a friend’s house or to a cousin’s home in the country.
No mandatory evacuations- just plain common sense.
In the morning, like now, we’d get up to the sunshine,
mumble of prayer, comment about the cool breezes,
frown at kids wading in dirty water or the ones paddling
rowboats in the street without worrying about broken glass,
boards, power lines. It reminds me how my grandmother
always used to say,“ I bet old Frog Hollow is flooded”.
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