29 October 2012

How a Woman Living in Italy Lands in the Storm of the Century in the States


It was just a two week vacation with my Honey to see family and friends in the states ending with my niece's wedding in Ohio. Our departure date, though, coincided with hurricane Sandy, which morphed into superstorm Sandy, smashing the east coast, including our port of exit, Boston. Which means that I'm writing this from an airport hotel in Columbus, Ohio after our flights were cancelled and rescheduled for two days from now providing Boston's Logan Airport is up and running by then. Our flights were among about 11,000 flights that were cancelled. Do you know how many other travelers were attempting to change to alternate routes to miss the 1,000 mile wide storm? Too many, as it turns out.

All other family members made it out (most driving) so I have a stretch of two days to catch up with all the things I've neglected while devoting myself whole- heartedly to visiting. I want to figure out a way to blog and travel/visit at the same time. I miss my blogosphere friends when I'm gone. The TV coverage of the storm is enough to scare the wits out of any watcher that has family or friends in harm's way. Columbus is on the outer edge of this massive storm and still we have rain, cold, winds and emergency contingencies at the ready, but it's the population dense east coast that is feeling the brunt of it. Heart- felt prayers to them.

My Honey started with a cold last night and felt it full- fledged today so he's in bed and I'm out doing email, facebook, blogging, reading, organizing my vacation photos and using the fitness center since I can't go outdoors. With no distractions, it's rather enjoyable. Another advantage of retirement- the ability to roll with what is. I've even played Words-With-Friends real time with my daughter and a friend, got myself caught up with DragonVale as well and made myself some new (young) friends along the way to share DV gems and strategies with. What a fun game with ever- evolving features to keep loyalists like me happy.

Fall in New England, celebrating my father's 96th birthday, seeing friends from where I used to live in Maine, touching base and catching up with old, dear friends, conducting our 9th annual gathering of the women in my family, alone time (four days!) for the first time in ten years to talk with my daughter, and attending my youngest brother's youngest daughter's wedding stand as high points of the trip up to this latest experience of nature's power shared by many millions of my Country people. It's been a rich vacation.




















18 comments:

  1. I'm glad you are safe and warm in a hotel that is not in the middle of the storm. I have my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson in Boston, so I am anxious about how this all turns out.

    You photos are amazing. I love all the beautiful bright red and gold colors. You look amazing. I'm glad the time, a real vacation for you, was such a success. Safe travels.

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  2. Your time in the states certainly turned into an adventure. I do hope you are able to get a flight in the next couple days, but at least you are safe and able to connect to the internet. (Smiles.) Your photos are beautiful. I especially like the first one with the beautiful reflections!

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    1. A grand adventure! We went on an afternoon walk with friends of 38 years and cam to this lake and its beautiful reflections.

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  3. Glorious fall colors, reminds me of the hymn we sang in church of that title, which continues "mine eyes have seen the glory of the Lord." Your trip had lots of good times in it, except for the dramatic finale!

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    1. There is nothing quite like the glory of fall colors in New England.

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  4. Remind again...where in Maine?

    We were scheduled to fly out of Portland to Lauderdale tonight.

    So far so good in northern NH but southern NH Dow through the Mid Atlantic States...

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    1. Cape Elizabeth across the street from Fort Williams Park. Good luck in your travels.

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  5. Great pictures! I'm so glad to hear you are taking advantage of the time before you get back to Italy. Your pictures of the fall color are simply breathtaking! :-)

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    1. Thanks, I enjoyed seeing them again and having my breath taken!

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  6. I love your photos; your timing was good for fall colors if not for air travel. I love the very modern cake, and/but I'm wondering whether that is a Target logo. Cool in any case. And regarding Dragonvale: I am so frustrated because I can't get a Ghost Dragon! Still have about a week, though. Safe travels.

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    1. The cake was four different kinds and no relation to Target other than colors. That layer was peanut butter chocolate- yummy! I got ghost dragon with cold dragon + earth dragon. Good luck.

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  7. So happy you had the visit and now the memories! That storm was/is still bad. Prayers to all. Safe travels, my friend.

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  8. happy birthday to your father...96, wow....and ugh on your visit coinciding with this storm...it packed quite a wallop up north...hoping all are still well...and that your hubs gets to feeling better soon...

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    1. Thanks, Brian, he's lots better today and we're on our way home. Our impact from the storm is quite minimal when seeing NJ and NY. What devastation.

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