The Blizzard of Winter 2013...It's A Matter of Perspective...

So here it is...the blizzard of 2013.  It has hit the entire Northeast of the United States.  Here on the Western half of Long Island, everything was good until about 4pm this afternoon.  It was just a mix of rain, snow and painful little bits of hail.  Last night and most of today, many Long Islanders...so painfully wounded from Hurricane Sandy - have now over reacted and inundated the gas pumps.  When I drove around late this afternoon most of the local gas stations were now empty.  Empty?  Yes, that's right. Empty by the time Rush Hour started.

I remember an older friend of mine taking me out on his boat into Hampton Bay for fishing told me to look at the shore and piers as we were riding out.  As I did that he asked me what did I see?  I told him that I could see about 30 to 40 people casting their fishing lines out into the bay to catch fish.  He told me to keep that thought.  He then stopped the engine and we drifted back towards the shore with the tide, and as we did...we started catching some fluke.  That's when he laid a little knowledge on me.

"We are catching these fish as the come in with the tide.  So are the guys standing on the shore.  So here we are all looking for the same thing - to catch fish.  One guy casting his rod out into the bay and another guy drifting back from the bay to the shore towards the shore to catch fish coming in with the tide.  It's all a matter of perspective on who's going to be the most successful."

So right he was back in 1996.  It is a matter of perspective.  New York, New Jersey and just about all of the New England states are in a state of emergency to deal with this wallop of a blizzard.  Most of us are dreading this situation.  Well, that is outside of the guys who will be driving the snow plows and sanding trucks.  They will definitely be making some overtime money - guaranteed.  I'm also quite sure that all ski resorts and ski fans are just singing joy for this weather.  It was starting to look pretty bleak for the snow bunnies in our area.  Now they will definitely have some of the good white stuff to lay their skis on.

Earlier this night, I actually walked out to my front stoop and snapped off the picture of the street. I kept telling myself "This isn't so bad.  If it tapers down overnight, I should have plenty of time to shovel myself out in time to get to work."  Yeah, I kept telling myself that joke as if the snow was going to disappear overnight.  Something tells me I'll be getting up an hour early for work no matter what.

Then I came into the house and watched my 10 year old daughter look out the back door into the backyard and start making a silent cheer gestures.  She didn't know I had walked back into the house and was watching her.  So I asked her why she was so happy.

She looked at me...smiled...and said "I'm so happy because we have snow!"

Oh how foolish I felt.  There I was loathing and belly aching about the snow and tomorrow morning's dig out.  And here my kid was cheering and just as ecstatic as can be.  We both just had two different outlooks on what the outside conditions represented.  She reminded me of when I was her age, how happy I was to see the snow and couldn't wait to find some friends to go play in it.  I will never again have a negative mind about  this or any other blizzard.  Nor will I let the Sandy disaster get me to over react to bad weather.  I have enough fuel, food and can get to work a multitude of ways.

I guess that's what the end of last year, and the beginning of this year has been all about.  We definitely need to be prepared for emergencies.  But we also must look on the bright side to some of our tragedies.  Since the Sandy disaster, I've seen more masons, electricians, carpenters and tree removal guys working pretty steady these past two months.  God bless them.  The economy around here could use a boost.  In fact, two friends of mine who live by the water and have lost their homes - have began rebuilding and are doing what they can to make their homes a little more efficient and more protected than they were before, in case of a future weather disaster.

I am working steady on the website.  Oye.  I'm also trying to get back to the building blocks of ESpeakeasy.  That blog will have elements that will be connected to many of my present and future works here and on my website.  Putting  that blog together is turning into a Cecil B. Demille production, but it must go on.  It will be a key link to many things in the future.

I wish all my friends and readers who might be facing these blizzard conditions and safe and happy weekend.  Peace and love to all.