The kids are back in school, Mike has gone to work... and I have gotten into my studio....
I want to show photos of the devastation... but it is just exhausting...
I have a friend living with us now... until she can get her own place after losing her whole rental and most of the contents...
We are blessed in that we had damage but it missed our first floor by inches... but there was 2 feet of water in the garage, all the HVAC and duct work/insulation under the house had to be ripped out and replaced but we are almost done...
Below shows how the river came up to the house and washed up all the reeds/cattails, etc up with it...
The height of the water in the garage, and the crap that had to be discarded and replaced.
Again, I cannot stress enough how lucky we were that it wasn't worse and the destruction was so much worse at our neighbors homes!
This documentary by Charlotte Nagy(a young girl) is a good indication of what happened to my town and the beach town(Sea Bright) right over the bridge(a 15 walk for me) from me...
If you have a 1/2 hour... check it out.
Stuff everywhere...
Boats everywhere... the boats we see on people's lawns are not theirs...
they were originally docked in the water OR DRY DOCKED
no where near where they landed....
they were originally docked in the water OR DRY DOCKED
no where near where they landed....
I have been to all of these places...
The reality is that indeed, it will NEVER be the same.
A lot of discussion and controversy as to how reconstruction occurs, especially in Sea Bright...
I have opinions... but for now, we are moving our HVAC units that were raised to what we thought was high enough , about 1 foot higher...and insulating all the ducts with waterproof stuff!
These "storms of the century" seem to be happening every year or so and
we can not pretend they are not!
we can not pretend they are not!
The impermanence of all things in life has become very, very evident.
I did get some work fired(when the electricity came back on... after 9 days)
and met with the owner of Vessels Gallery from BOSTON Tuesday
who was in Brooklyn, visiting...
Traffic was crazy getting in to the city,BUT,
I was able to let her choose from some of this work for an upcoming (white) show!
I did get some work fired(when the electricity came back on... after 9 days)
and met with the owner of Vessels Gallery from BOSTON Tuesday
who was in Brooklyn, visiting...
Traffic was crazy getting in to the city,BUT,
I was able to let her choose from some of this work for an upcoming (white) show!
And I was able to dig in to some other pieces and get get started on them in the studio...
So...
The world(and the wheel) keeps spinning and life goes on...
I guess.. but it is very weird...
Seeing all the destruction in photos is hard, I can't imagine how it is for you and so many others. I am disheartened there is not more being done by the government about helping all the victims of this storm in New York and New Jersey on the news. Glad to hear you're able to get some work done. congrats on the white show. Mother nature can't be predicted, that's for sure.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are ok.Wishing you a speedy return to normalcy.
ReplyDeleteI am from New Orleans, and was living there when Katrina hit. My heart goes out to you and everyone affected by Sandy. Aid never comes fast enough, but I hope there are enough kind hearted people in the world to help those in need, and help rebuild. So glad to hear that you and your family are safe, but I'm sure that the devastation has rocked you all to your core. Be kind to yourselves, because no matter how lucky you were, it's still an enormous and life changing event you've been through
ReplyDeleteMy phone conked out before I could finish; I just wanted to say my thoughts are with you and your family. Keep us posted, and let us know if we can do anything to help. Potters gotta stick together.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear of your damage, but am glad to see that you're going to be showing pottery in the white show.
ReplyDeleteIt is definitely Mama Gaia shaking us around with all the environmental and weather changes. May the politicos take it seriously soon. And may you and your neighbors have timely relief and take a moment to be good to yourselves too.
Judi, I am soooo sorry you are having to deal with all of this, and yes it could have been so much worse, but it's still bad enough. Can't believe you are back with the clay, I think I would have had to step away for a long time and have a break. The white pieces are just beautiful, they will find homes in a snap!
ReplyDeleteHope life is back to normal or as close to it as you can get, very soon
xoxo
Judi, glad you checked in..been thinking of you (and all the others hit by the storm). I agree- the climate is changing and if we don't stop denying it and get on the ball...well, who knows what will happen!
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you are digging out and finding some measure of normalcy. Things will get better day by day. So glad you have the studio to get a few moments of escape from it all....