Watching the Hurricane News
Sep. 18th, 2003 04:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fenchurchIt's funny how life conditions you to respond to things... I've been reading some of the "Hurricane Prep" emails that have been making the rounds over the past few days and now today watching the newsfeeds of the affected areas, and I find myself oddly nostalgic.
And it's not just me... Talking to both my parents over the last little while has revealed much the same thing. My dad has been getting a bit nostalgic as well, and my mom and I have figured out that what we're feeling is closer to homesickness of all things. Both my mom and I spent some of our formative years on Guam, getting hit repeatedly with typhoons... it's no wonder it feels a bit like seeing pictures of home.
Considering the number of natural disasters I was in as a kid, I think my parents did the right thing... they turned it into fun. We'd get the typhoon warnings and run to the store... not to buy food staples like nearly everyone else (we always had a good-sized food storage), but to stock up on chips and cookies and soda. We'd break out the propane stove or the Sterno (to this day, I love the smell of Sterno). We'd pop popcorn and listen to the news on the radio... we'd read by candlelight and play boardgames and cardgames. Same after earthquakes and tornados and blizzards and floods and volcanic eruptions.
It's weird to think about, but I'd been in all of those things (some of them way more than once) by the time I was ten years old. At the time it didn't seem that strange, but looking back on it as an adult, ten years isn't that big a span. No wonder our relatives didn't want to come visit until we'd gotten our natural disaster out of the way...
For those being buffeted now by Isabel, hang in there... from what I've heard, it's already starting to lose steam and it'll be over soon. Just stay safe until then.
And it's not just me... Talking to both my parents over the last little while has revealed much the same thing. My dad has been getting a bit nostalgic as well, and my mom and I have figured out that what we're feeling is closer to homesickness of all things. Both my mom and I spent some of our formative years on Guam, getting hit repeatedly with typhoons... it's no wonder it feels a bit like seeing pictures of home.
Considering the number of natural disasters I was in as a kid, I think my parents did the right thing... they turned it into fun. We'd get the typhoon warnings and run to the store... not to buy food staples like nearly everyone else (we always had a good-sized food storage), but to stock up on chips and cookies and soda. We'd break out the propane stove or the Sterno (to this day, I love the smell of Sterno). We'd pop popcorn and listen to the news on the radio... we'd read by candlelight and play boardgames and cardgames. Same after earthquakes and tornados and blizzards and floods and volcanic eruptions.
It's weird to think about, but I'd been in all of those things (some of them way more than once) by the time I was ten years old. At the time it didn't seem that strange, but looking back on it as an adult, ten years isn't that big a span. No wonder our relatives didn't want to come visit until we'd gotten our natural disaster out of the way...
For those being buffeted now by Isabel, hang in there... from what I've heard, it's already starting to lose steam and it'll be over soon. Just stay safe until then.
Speaking of potatoes...
Date: 2003-10-02 11:58 pm (UTC)TPK