Loving Natural Disasters

Well thank goodness for the movies, right?  Sometimes they just make you feel better about yourself; you leave feeling less of a freak.  I am reminded of this odd fact as I prepare for Hurricane Irene. (and as I ponder our recent earthquake.)  Why do I love natural disasters?  Near, far, I am fascinated by them.  I am all about the news and the weather, etc., when any good calamity is upon us.  Maybe it is because I grew up in Kansas with the excitement of all the neighborhood kids being called in by mothers to hide out tornadoes in the basement.  Perhaps it is because they divert me from my own mind's merry-go-round.

Jennifer Garner in the movie Catch and Release had a similar declaration in a dinnertime scene.  Her character was admitting deep, dark secrets to her dining companions (some too R rated for tender ears), including being able to put her entire fist in her mouth and loving natural disasters.  It was during this dialogue that I realized I wasn't the only one with a seemingly "wrong" thought-pattern. Phew.  OF COURSE I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE. Why don't we like to admit these things?  We all trot, trot, trot along thinking we are the only one?  How many of us are so "disturbed"?

So, on the one hand, as I prepare for Miss Irene, a little worried, a little frantic, I am at the same time excited and exhilarated.  Okay, at least I am animated....and....functioning...not happy or elated.  At least I know I'm not the only one.  Neighbors and family members have been reacting in varied ways.  As of yesterday most were in denial, still.  We have seen too many storms turn off the projected course and folks worried for nothing.  Still, oil lamps were hard to find, grocery stores were packed, generators were selling out and boatyards were warning customers not to wait until the last minute to ask for their boats to be pulled out of the water.  Sandbags are filling historic Annapolis.

Hurricane Isabel - 2003 - Alex Haley Memorial/City Dock

Today my son will have to leave Ocean City because of mandatory evacuations.  Hurricane trackers are showing the storm coming right up the Chesapeake Bay.  This is what Isabel did in 2003.  The aftermath was not a pretty picture.  Today will be the day everyone north of North Carolina will take Miss Irene seriously.  Time will tell and I will keep functioning (somewhat) and getting the deal done.  I am anticipating heavy winds and power loss so will fill the bathtub with water, turn the a/c down to 60, move flowers to safe place on balcony, line up flashlights, oil lamps, matches, candles, and fill the freezer with water bottles.  Today I hope to find a battery radio so the noise in my mind can be distracted.

I will be praying for everyone, especially the poor and homeless.  I will be worrying about these guys who live on the water.  I hope they leave.  I am preparing for hot cocoa and internet withdrawals and hoping I don't have to leave my little home.  Say a prayer and watch the news for me flyin' off my balcony.......and we LIKED it.