Saturday
Scene and HeardSurviving Sandy
NYC aftermath by Erich Strom
Stranded in Boston, unable to make it back home to New York City, knowing that your building is flooded and without power, so even going home isn’t really going home.
Hurricane, or “Superstorm” Sandy has left millions without power, and many thousands without homes to go back to. It has not been easy, and as the cleanup is just barely beginning, we took a moment to check in with Shambhala sangha members to see how their week was with the storm.
“Water is running along the street where I grew up. My mom is on the 3rd floor above it. Talk to me now about go it alone government. Sell me now on self determination. We are only as strong as we are willing to work together. No claw, no fang, no tusk. We are human, we are social. That is our nature. That is our power.”
~ Jim Infantino, Boston, MA
Boston after the storm by Louise Miller
“I see blue sky!”
~ Cindy Caros, Nashua, NH
“I miss chatting with my Mom. Crossing fingers for power in NYC soon.”
~ Claudelle Glasgow, Chicago
“I’m doing well with a friend. One of our windows blew out but didn’t break. A scaffold collapsed at the construction site next door. I think I got ADDICTED to twitter last night. So much damage, but so much camaraderie too. More than anything, I feel increasingly connected to everyone, and woke up this morning feeling that anyone who isn’t preaching that we are all on this planet together is way out of touch.”
~ Shastri Ethan Nichtern, NYC
110th St, NYC by Ethan Nichtern
“41 degrees, feels like 28…wind speed 47mph”
~ Lisa Harris, South Bend, indiana
“The river on the far side is way up, which also backed up to the crick on my south border near the barn/fence. If I get a canoe – I can ride the crick to the river!”
~ Kyle Courtney, Boston, MA
“Sandy was not so bad in Burlington, VT, though the winds are picking up. Still have the fire going in the fireplace!”
~ Elizabeth Kanard, Burlington, VT
Tree down in MA by Kelley Turner-Murray
~ Kelley Turner-Murray, New Bedford, MA
trees down in NYC by Erich Strom
house repair after the storm by Jean Beebe
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What’s YOUR story?
Send in a few words about your experience surviving Sandy and we’ll post it in another article soon. Feel free to use the comments function below as well.
Looking to help our fellow humans in these times of recovery? Here is one listing that has a live feed with request, click here to view. Post below if you know of any other organizations you know working to support the area. The world is your Sangha!
Nov 7, 2012
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Dear Phyllis Segura,
Despite your upheavals, you sound so sane and of sound mind. By the sound of your voice I can tell you are radiating an aura of upliftedness that is lifting up everyone you encounter. Your host family is very fortunate to house a refugee disciple of Chogyam Trungpa, and you are a fortunate guest. All your stuff…ah well. Fresh start for now. It is an intense bardo between there and here, between then and now. I hope KCL can open its arms to welcome sangha refugees from the storm and holds a special fund-raising appeal to cover extra costs. You sound fine and canny in tumultuous circumstances. Hold steady and ride the storm out. I have no advice, but impermanence works both ways, and in time the chaos will subside. In the meantime you can enjoy the role of kitchen miracle dakini and wandering yogini. With love in the Three Jewels.
Nov 5, 2012
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I live/lived in Piermont, NY, which is right along the Hudson River. There has been huge flooding and the entire county (Rockland County) has been declared a disaster area. I can not go back to my apartment for at least 2-3 more weeks. All the basements have been flooded and require new boilers, water heaters, and in the case of the house I lived in, new electrical wiring. Everything needs to be redone. It has been most difficult for me to find a place to go. New York City did not seem like an option.
Unless you are in this it is difficult to actually gauge the full measure of the experience. When there has been no utilities up people would send me emails with advise which of course I could not receive. The realization and the reality did not mesh well. Right now I am staying with a family with small children. It’s amazing that the people who invite you in are already dealing with chaos so a little more won’t make too much difference. Unfortunately, I have developed a bad cold and stayed resting all day today. There are huge gas shortages with people lining up for miles to get gas.
I know there are many households in Piermont that still have no power. The Fire Department there has set up a place to get food and now for people to sleep and take a shower.
Right now I am trying to see if I can go to Karme Choling for a while…even so it takes the institution there a while to make a decision and you can’t contact anyone on Sunday. Then there would be the issue of how to get there. Earlier in the month I had a car crash at the local mall parking lot, someone drove into me, and lost my vehicle. I’ve attempted to rent a car but there are none available.
All my work is currently curtailed as piles of manuscript notes sit in my home office. I am not able to access any of it. And other work I had has been cancelled for now.
Frankly, I have not had too much help or contact with sangha. The one person who lives locally is so tense and overwhelmed with his own sense of difficulty that he can not extend himself at all. And another person I reached out to said that his house was under construction. Of course someone would have to pick me up which might be an added complication.
My friends want me to stay here. One advantage is that I am a chef and have been cooking for them since I got here and they are thrilled to say the least.
If anyone in the New York area has a place to offer I would love to hear from you. I don’t know how I would get there but things are getting better. You can send me an email: [email protected]
It looks as though we depend upon electricity much too much and maybe electric cars would not be such a good idea.
I hope everyone is safe and dry. And in USA…go vote tomorrow.
Nov 5, 2012
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Rich K.
Belatedly, regrettably, I am forwarding the following link so that you may be aware of the atrocious radiation fallout environment in Yokohama, and take precautions, such as leaving immediately!
http://enenews.com/?s=Yokohama
Nov 5, 2012
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I have to agree with a previous post. Going it alone does not work when the going gets tough. My husband and I lost power upstate. He wound up living with a client and my NYC dogwalker took in me, 2 dogs and and 2 kittens! Karen, you are a bodhisattva if ever there was one. I only hope that we can learn to live out of the city in a way that we can be helpful to displaced friends.
Nov 4, 2012
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I leave for the “An International Engaged Buddhist Vision for Post 3/11 Japan” in Yokohama, Japan in just a few hours where I hope to bridge the recovery in the Tohoku region almost two years later with the beginnings of recovery now in New England.