anotheranon | pollyanna

I cannot be accused of being an optimist. I don't let go of cynicism easily because it feels like a buffer between the slings and arrows of life, but I let my guard down and got smacked around a bit this weekend.

First, the storm: despite forecasts of 80 mph winds and rain, I didn't really believe it would get THAT bad. The winds couldn't get that strong without a tropical storm behind them, I rationalized, and went to bed.

The joke was on me - we woke up Saturday morning to no power, broken trees, and shingles torn from roofs littering the grass (don't know if they're from us or neighbors). In normal circumstances this is survivable but add 100F+ heat indices to the equation and no air conditioning and things get miserable pretty quick.

Also, its *just* long enough to destroy everything in the fridge. Note to self: frozen yoghurt will refreeze, but it just isn't very good.

We survived by closing the blinds to keep it from getting hotter and staying very, very still (read: napped until 4). We went to the movies and were happy to be cool, even if we had to share the theater with the half of the county who had the same idea :P

When we came back the lights were on, so I was able to go about resetting clocks, restocking the fridge, etc.

I WILL channel my inner Pollyanna and be glad we're not one of the many, many people who may be without all week.

I also lost a fencing friend. She had been sick for over a year, but she was trying a new drug regimen, had bounced back before, fenced her just a few weeks ago... it blindsided me because I told myself that surely her doctors would find something that worked. I don't think I appreciated how serious it really was; maybe I chose not to see it. I still haven't fully digested that I'll never see her again. She was a sharp and funny, a fierce fencer and all around good person. At the very least, she was able to be active and do what she wanted to do almost until the end.