Hurricane Irene and Harmonious Belly

Over the weekend, New York City got socked by Hurricane Irene. We weren’t harmed at all at our apartment, but there was some damage in Astoria – mostly trees uprooted, some flooding, and no doubt some buildings were affected structurally. Some lost power – a small percentage, but the percentage size doesn’t really matter if you are the one without power. I lived through the 2006 Western Queens blackout, and was without power for 7 days – I don’t wish that kind of experience on anyone.

We did prepare – we have a hand crank flashlight, which is cool; I bought an extra lighting wand in case we needed to light the stove manually; I bought extra batteries, and some candles. I even bought some baby wipes in case we were out of water for washing (our bathtub does not have stopper, so we couldn’t fill it).  I filled up glass containers with water, as well as my 16 quart stockpot, so we’d have something to drink in case the water supply became problematic. We also had enough non-perishable food, plus I harvested a bowl of garden food Friday morning before everything hit.

Saturday night, we treated ourselves to taco salad without the chips, made from grass fed/finished beef from the CSA and Taco Salad seasoning from Kate at Modern Alternative Mama. We love it and prefer it to the stuff in the taco seasoning packet. Topped it with tomatoes from the garden, some raw cheddar from Washington, and raw red onions.

We waited for things to get really bad, as a tornado watch and warning was declared for all of last night. However, I feel asleep around 11pm and slept like a rock – I didn’t hear a thing over night! A few hours after I got up this morning, the eye had passed us and we were on the south side of the storm. The hurricane was pretty uneventful for me, from my perspective. I’ll know more tomorrow, though, after I check the garden and backyard.

My friend Lia took some pictures of our local park, which was flooded to an extent. Here are some shots (used with permission).

I’m really, really glad the hurricane wasn’t nearly as destructive as it threatened to be. Glad we were prepared, too – it makes a huge difference. The city was prepared – some believe over-prepared – but I’d rather they be that than dropping the ball.

I hear the week should start out with beautiful weather, too! Monday morning should be a great time to go for a run, too – a welcome change after being cooped up most of the weekend.