Earthquakes, Evacuations and Hurricanes--Oh My!!!

I know it's been wa-a-a-y too long since I've had  substantial blog of note, but as I described in an earlier post, for whatever reason Blogger wouldn't let me even view my blog for close to a week, and THEN I was on vacation by the time I actually could even attempt to post.

Then, all hell broke loose.  First, we had a minor earthquake while I was at the Jersey shore, just south of Philadelphia.   That actually wasn't too bad, and kind of interesting.  It was, believe it or not, the first time in my life I ever experienced an earthquake.  

Hell really started to break loose on Thursday, however, when an evacuation was ordered for Long Beach Island where I was vacationing.

For those of you unfamiliar with the Jersey shore, LBI is an island off the coast of NJ which is nothing more than an 18 mile long, 1 mile wide sandbar.   There is one road that runs down the center of the island, one bridge to and from the island, and, at the height of the summer season 250,000 people on it on a given day.   In the absolute best of circumstances, its estimated that it would take 22 hours to clear the island in an emergency.

With a history of severe flooding of the island and the bridge connecting the island to the mainland during tropical storms and hurricanes, the powers that be thought it best to start evacuating the island as Hurricane Irene made it's way up the coast.  

So starting Thursday afternoon we went into "hurricane mode."  Thursday we had to pack and leave the island, then Friday and Saturday were spent in "hurricane prep" back home in Connecticut.   Sunday we lost power, and the power remains out.

My yoga studio is closed due to lack of power, as is my martial arts school where I practice Tai Chi.  Luckily, yesterday and today I've been able to go for long walks prior to my husband leaving for work.   

With no school, I've had to watch and entertain the kids for the last two days, and tried to work in some exercise for all of us, including a walk along the Sound this morning in Westport were we surveyed some of the damage the storm did.

Prior to the hurricane hitting, I stocked up the house with non-perishable healthy foods and foods that wouldn't spoil easily, including cans of beans, nuts and dried and fresh fruits.  

Wish me luck in getting my power back, and once it does I'll be back to blogging regularly--I promise.