So, you can imagine why it feels awkward having to blog about a "measly" tropical storm. So it begins.
Saturday, Irene started to rain on us while we were in Boston. My family and I went to the temple for a few hours and then we had to drive back. People and places to see? Not this time...it was raining and it was getting late. Trader Joe's and Target will have to wait another day.
Okay, so Irene was cruel. Saturday, she rained on us like a mad woman. The lights in our home ominously flickered for a good 20 minutes that evening, but she was kind enough to let us keep our electricity. Then this morning, she made life difficult when I found out that a bridge near my house was closed down. I had to take a longer route to do my grocery shopping. Fer rude!
Evidence of the flooding looked more like a construction zone. The West Lebanon Shopping Plaza parking lots were already being cleared of the sludge and debris. I was able to buy my groceries without a problem and there were parking spots galore! Good thing.
With tongue and cheek aside, I am glad my family and my house were spared from the New England devastation that has been broadcasted on national news today. Although we are next-door neighbors to both the White and Connecticut Rivers, our home sits up higher from the mess they've caused my town and nearby communities. Despite that I've lived in the Upper Valley for a mere two months, this place has become home. I've been close to shedding tears. The videos I've watched online tug at my heart and make me in awe of Mother Nature:
Quechee (15 min away)
Brattleboro (1 hr drive south)
I did a little scouting of my own today while schlepping around my two little ones. On my way back home from Springfield, VT to visit an orchard and a petting zoo, I stopped in Quechee (kwee-chee) to see the damage. We have been to Quechee numerous times this summer ranging from park days on the Quechee Green, to swimming at Lake Pinneo, to watching polo matches, to gazing off the Rt. 4 bridge to see the Quechee Gorge, to eating cheese at the Cabot store. We love Quechee.
Yesterday, the Ottauquechee River pummeled right through it. And the community mourns.
It has been really sad around here, but New Englanders have a lot of grit. I'm sure things will get into ship-shape by the time the leaf peepers start surging in. If there was ever a time to be cheered up, I think the colors better be crazy awesome this Fall.
