Acts of God

Oh, great. I just checked the scenic area where we’re heading to in Canada and they’re predicting nothing but showers for a week straight. What, do they have a monsoon season up in Canada? I thought it never rained in California. Doesn’t that apply to Oregon, Washington and British Columbia on the west coast too?

Mother nature and friends have been unsettling of late. Take my son Scott out in Washington DC this past week. He was sitting having lunch and minding his own business on a concrete bench outside the office building where he works when the bench started shaking.

He turned around, thinking maybe one of the area’s homeless folk was messing with him (a very strong homeless person obviously). But then the trees started shaking, the ground started rumbling, car alarms were going off . . . EARTHQUAKE! Though he’s never been in an earthquake previously, Scott knew exactly what was going on. However, other employees inside office buildings who had lived through the 9/11 terror attacks a decade ago weren’t so sure. Definitely more scary for them.

The buildings were all quickly evacuated and for hours employees didn’t know the extent of the situation. Eventually they all were told to go home and call the next day before coming in again. Bummer for Scott since he didn’t have his keys and cell phone. Left in the building which was off limits now. Worse for the daughter of a colleague of mine—her daughter was caught without her cell phone, keys and purse with her money. She waited it out until they gave the all-clear to go inside several hours later.

Then hurricane Irene happened. Scott was told to expect at a minimum to be without power for a few days. He took that warning seriously, however too late. By the time he got to the store to stock up on flashlights, batteries, canned goods and other necessities, the store was cleaned out. Lucky for him, Irene took her wrath elsewhere and spared the part of Maryland where he lived. He wasn’t among the four million plus to lose power.

At least I have some flexibility with my vacation to come. I am locked in with reservations for southwest Canada, rain or shine. But after that we can change plans if necessary. For example, stay away from the rainy coast. Maybe Yosemite. Let me check what’s there. Fire! Highway closed, campers evacuated?

*sigh *