Tag: Isaac

2012? Almost

For those who are now living in Tent City due to Sandy, 2012 does seem like a doom-prophecy year i.e. INVOLUNTARY departure from their homes. Others in 20 States, mostly Red, willingly sign a petition to secede (VOLUNTARY departure from the Federade).  Essentially, they want to vote again.

Grow up.

We do have to zoom out and see where we are: globally and ecologically.

A warmer temperature means melting snow for the penguins. A butterfly in the Amazon still has that connection to Sandy, however small. (In the US, one can drive out of any house, to arrive at any person’s driveway; the power of inter-connectedness).

I was walking into a restaurant last night when the power  was suddenlyy out. For a quick moment, I knew how  people affected by Sandy must have felt.

To us, 2012 is just another calendar year.

To them, it’s dooms day.

Once again, the nation is showing its solidarity as in the days following 9/11.

Governor Chris and Cuomo, of Garden State and Empire State, were seen touring alongside the President.

A show of unity and solidarity.

People are hurting.

Groping in the dark.

Tested and bewildered

It happened before in Florida, then down in the Gulf with Isaac and Katrina.

People moved on, but those regions bore the marks of being whipped.

Bent out of shape (tourists would conveniently cherry pick the best spots in the world to spend their hard-earned dollars).

The hypocrisy of pleasure-seeking.

Since when do you hear a doctor take his/her vacation to give vaccine to an emerging nation? I only read about Melinda Gates Foundation doing this.

Meanwhile, we are in wait for another round of doomsday prophecy, often comes at year-end.

Futuristic stuff that may or may not fan out.

Yet we believe. We want an edge, to position ourselves for profit, or to hedge our bets.

Good luck with the rest of 2012. We have yet seen the end of it.

Still with a good two months to go.

I would line up my all-star team right around this time.

To charge out of the gate. To win. To seize the day, the year.

To plan that next play. Winning is easy when planning was hard.

2012 is not over until the planning for 2013 is complete.

Sand and Storm

Isaac is sweeping through the Keys in a Northwest arch as seen in previous storms.

Paradise bills come due. This summer we have seen an eerie absence of tornadoes (too dried to happen).

Paradise’s sand box are put on high alert.

The last time, a political convention that got that much press attention before it gets started was Chicago 68.

This time, the National Guards are also mobilized, but for a different reason: to help with eventual and possible evacuation.

Grab your bag. Essentials only: toothbrush, toothpaste (shared), eye glasses, underwear and change of clothes. Well, maybe a paperback, normally for beach reading.

I used to have my class do an exercise in forced ranking: what if you could only bring five things to an isolated island.

It makes for group discussion, collaboration and debate.

What would you bring if you were to live in the Keys this morning?

Tow that camper away with everything in it and sit in traffic?

Remember not to forget the I-phone charger, for storm tracker.

I know I would bring my daughter’s pics, even though they are already in a flash drive.

I heard of DropBox. Maybe I should open an account (a safe?) there in the Cloud.

Valuables and all that remains.

A lifetime of memory and momento.

What is life?

Play time and work time, hurt and healing?

Sand storm and sand box.

Some of us are defined by crisis, others crown.

The higher the climb, the steeper the fall.

Just part of the roller-coaster ride.

In other time, Florida Keys are picture perfect. You can’t get enough of it.

But then, one has to live with these North-ward weather patterns, as if everything “negative” seems to have come from somewhere South, if it fits your prejudice. People who reached a certain maturity have come to accept that trade-off : you can’t have paradise without penalty, sand without storm, at least in this life, at least on this Earth.