We have enjoyed great weather here in the Chicago area this summer. Right now the temperature has been fairly mild during the day and gently cool in the evening. I thought about how lucky we have been as I saw reports that TS Gustav could be headed toward New Orleans by the end of the week. I have talked recently with someone that does work down there for a major developer. He had said that all anyone could hope for is a pass this year from any major hurricanes so they might be able to get the levees at least to where they were before Katrina. Lets hope New Orleans does not take a direct hit this time. They have already started to work out evacuation plans, and it looks like people will obey them this time around. I saw pictures of (what few) residents that are still there, starting to load up their cars with belongings. What made me think about the perspective difference was pictures of people in Haiti that had just endured the impact of TS Gustav. They had their belongings in cardboard boxes, on their heads, as they waded through the flood waters. I guess it just depends on where you are standing when you have to decide what it is that you really need. Pack up the car with as much stuff as possible...or grab a cardboard box. I know, for myself, if I had to evacuate my home I would probably need a semi (lol) but the picture does make you wonder. What did he have in that box, and what did he have to leave behind. Or maybe, that was it, ALL his possessions fit in a cardboard box.
Be safe Gulf Coast areas. Evacuate if you need to. Protect your life and those of your family. The rest is just stuff and maybe if we really looked around the important stuff could fit in a cardboard box.
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3 comments:
that brings up something to think about... What WOULD You pack in 10 minutes? Do you have it ready to go? Is it in one of your famous containers?
Most of my famous containers are pre-packed and just need to be loaded up. For the next 5 minutes I'm grabbing...TOYS to keep the kid quite.
When I left my home on 9/11 I had a very small bag of stuff. I can't remember now if I even took my laptop.
I do remember taking an issue of Yoga Journal, which was kind of hilarious, because it was the only thing I had to identify myself with as a resident of the area when I was allowed back in around the 13th to pack up a few more things for the longer evacuation. (I had no driver's license at the time.) I remember telling the cop at the checkpoint, this is me, and pointing to the subscription label on the cover, which was emblazoned with a pulchritudinous yoga babe in an improbably flexy yoga pose. He looked at me and said, that's you, and chuckled. (I remember being impressed at the resiliency of his cop humor.)
Sigh. Ultimately, when I returned a few weeks later, all my stuff was there and fine, save for the contents of the fridge.
"Obvious", I had forgotten you were blogging. I'll have to keep up. (And we'll be starting again with the new season of 24, hee hee!)
"A"
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