Light Lessons Learned from Hurricane Sandy
By Veronica MacDonald Ditko
An Accidental Anthropologist
Electrical wires taken down by tree. Photo by Jim Folkerts
Most areas in North Jersey were relatively unscathed by the combination of Hurricane Sandy and a Nor’easter (which I will call Fred). Nearly every town lost power but people learned to make do. I’m pretty sure people in Third World countries would laugh at us.
What was even more ridiculous was the gasoline shortage. I avoided the whole waiting for gas altogether by riding my bike everywhere. It was rough. Especially when I realized my tires were low on air and I didn’t have a bike pump. The bike wouldn’t go too fast or too far without enormous effort!
What happened up here was nothing compared to the devastation at the shore, my homeland. And my heart goes out to them both in New York and New Jersey. But in the spirit of keeping things light in this column, I would like to share some lessons I learned from the storm:
1. Our next house should have a chimney. Like a real one where you can make a fire.
2. I will never agree to buy an electric stove. They are utterly useless.
3. I need to find the Girl Scouts activity where you can bake a cake using a box, some tin foil, and the powers of the sun.
4. When there is darkness and silence at night, you’ll want to go to bed at 7 pm. No joke.
5. The only blanket that truly kept me warm was made of wool.
6. Shelf milk is disgusting. They really ought to make that taste better.
7. Women don’t mind being without the internet and electronic devices; men do.
8. When you hand wash something and hang it up in a cold house, it’ll take a week to dry.
9. Your kids will be happy if they are well fed and you stick as close to the routine as possible. But neither is easy.
10. If your kids are starving, they really will eat anything. I swear! I’ve seen it with my own eyes.
11. If you made it through that week, you are ready to go camping in the wilderness!
My husband made an additional observation. He needs to invest in Dunkin Donuts. The lines out the doors were crazy. I too got on the line because I happened to be out working and wanted something warm to drink. The lady behind me drove around all Dunkin Donuts in the area for an hour-and-a-half to find one that was open. That’s some caffeine addiction. But I really can’t talk. Besides milk, the first thing we bought at the grocery store was instant coffee.
I personally cannot look at the images on TV. It hurts too much. Not only were people’s lives ruined, but my memories got washed away too. It’s not something you ever think will happen. However they rebuild, it won’t be the same. But I’ll be the first in line to help.
Veronica MacDonald Ditko is originally from the Jersey Shore, but married and settled in northern New Jersey. Her journalism career started a decade ago after studying Psychology and Anthropology in Massachusetts. She has written for several newspapers and magazines including The Daily Hampshire Gazette, The Springfield Union News and Sunday Republican, Happi, Chemical Week, The Hawthorne Press, The Jewish Standard, Suite101.com and more.