Aftermath

My next door neighbor posted the above photo on Facebook, showing the powerful contrast of lower Manhattan two months ago on September 11th anniversary and last night.  

I took the photo above of New York Harbor few minutes ago  where I ritualistically look out at the water from my little kitchen window when coffee is brewing.   The harbor is typically full of life -

ferries, barges, small motor crafts, sailing vessels, helicopters during 'rush hour' flying from New Jersey to Wall Street and back, and frequently cruise ships leaving port from the Hudson going out to sea.

The stillness, the quiet, the absence of light - distinctive characteristics of New York City - are temporarily hushed during the aftermath of 'Superstorm Sandy.'

I personally fared so much better than many - never lost power, never was flooded (though the parking lot and road by the soccer field pier above was shockingly a lake during the height of the storm), temporarily lost internet and cable tv, have food, water, shelter, very very okay.  

It's hard not to think about how life was in New York City in the days, weeks and months that followed September 11th attacks, when invincible city dwellers were humbled with loss of lives, power, homes, public transportation, not knowing when you might return to work, the grumpiness of not having ordinary convenience of local businesses that you are used to, and the mere shock of the enormity of it all.   

Friends in New Jersey are surrounded by devastation and some suffering significant home damage.  A few in NJ and NY are without power, potentially for many days, and likely feeling that dull reality of how good life really was when you could just turn on a light, charge your phone, watch TV or have a hot shower.    

Family and friends from all over are checking in, and we are frequently checking in with each other locally, grateful to have texts from friends and colleagues in Manhattan that you're temporarily cut off from with flooded subway tracks that may take not days but weeks to pump out.

Many are gaining a much wider perspective of New York City as not just being about tall buildings, dense population,  bright lights, 24/7 activity, but in reality a small geographic area that's part of one of the largest natural harbors in the world.  (We are part of it, it's not just a small part of us...)

Like others who emerge from natural and man made disasters, we will be okay.  We will move forward and take care of each other and clean up.  We will temporarily remember again what matters most.