Out Of Our Comfort Zone - More on Hurricane Dorian

We assumed that because there were no toppled buildings or up rooted trees on our street, that Hurricane Dorian had not been as devastating as we predicted it would be. But as we ventured further from home and maybe a little out of our comfort zone, we saw sights reminiscent of Hurricane Juan. Like the uprooted tree on the walkway around Morash Park....

There are probably other such uprooted trees. This one is on a well-used hiking path and will need to be moved.

Aftermath of Dorian

Power has been restored to our neck of the woods. We call it Serenity Corner round here. The storm was wild. We couldn't really see it because it hit after midnight and since we were without power.....28 hours we in the darkness of no lights, no phone, no cable, no internet. We used the Barbecue a lot, to cook, to boil water for coffee, it reminded me of camping in Newfoundland, we just didn't have to sleep outside with the bears.

I went outside in the neighbourhood a few times to see if those 140 km/hr winds had wreaked havoc.I was both relieved and disappointed to see that everything, well almost everything was intact.

It certainly wasn't as uprooting as Hurricane Juan. Or, maybe, it just was't that way in our neck of the woods. And, really, isn't that all that concerns us. Certainly, we are worried about friends and loved ones and hope they are alright during such a storm,and we appreciate their calls, etc. But at the end of the day, who was here sweeping off my end of the street? Just me and Nancy. I didn't see anyone else with a broom. 

When The Wind Blows

We were living in Woodside when Hurricane Juan hit. I admit I didn't take the forecast seriously. I think I said, "Naw that will never happen here." During the night, the wind sounded like a freight train ripping the siding off the house, Next day, it looked like a war zone outside. Uprooted trees, downed power lines, cars almost flipped over.

My wife Nancy couldn't get a cab to work and she thought for some reason that Metro Transit would be on the road. She walked down Chadwick Street and when she got to Pleasant Street she decided she would walk to work, from Woodside to Northwood Manor in Halifax. Apparently, she had to stop and wait for cars to drive by so that the headlights would show where the downed power lines were.

I, on the other hand, looked out the window, picked up my phone which thankfully was still working, called work and said, "I won't be in."

We have varying work ethics.

Currently, I'm not working so I don't have to worry about what decision I'll make during this hurricane [Dorian]. And Nancy worked 7 to 3 so she was almost finished her shift when the wind started to blow.

We're curious to see what happens when the beast makes direct landfall. They forecast 140 km/hr winds. Hope the tie-downs on the trailer are secure. At least this will be a good test to see how secure the new windows are. If the power stays on, I'll update as often as possible, maybe with photos.

The Next Post

The next excerpt is at another blog of mine. Sometimes God drives A Snow Plow.

https://town-drunk.blogspot.com/2019/09/11-once-upon-time-in-meductic-excerpt.html

An exercise in writing.

This post is about the craft of writing. A few years ago, I was writing and I experienced a writer's block. I'm told writers get these blocks all the time. I tried a simple exercise to unclog my brain and to get the creative juices flowing again. The exercise suggested I write about something from my childhood and change the ending of the story. Sounded simple enough. 

I tried the writing exercise and ended up writing a short story that was actually quite interesting. I tried the exercise again and wrote a second short story. This second story included a character from the first story. I was having such a great time overcoming my block that I decided to write a third story. This third time I utilized a trick I had found in a collection of short stories I had read many years ago. I told the first story, from the perspective of one of the other characters in the story, because oftentimes different people view things different ways.

Then, I decided to write about something not from my own childhood but from the childhood of one of my story's characters. It was about him having served in the Second World War, around the time of the Siege of Budapest. I have done some reading on the actual historic events of that period and so I was able to insert some truth into that account.

Without realizing it, I had started to write a novel. Each of the short stories, of which there are now ten, have become chapters in the novel. I'm not sure what the story is about yet and probably won't know for certain until the book is completely written. But, at least I don't have writer's block......at the moment.