Three weeks ago on a Friday, I found myself back in Texas so I could give my talk at the University of Texas at Arlington. It went well and the students seemed to enjoy the subject matter—though who doesn’t enjoy talking about cheese enchiladas, old friends, grandparents and recipes? In any case, because I’d been a nervous wreck leading up to the talk, I hadn’t spent much time focusing on anything else that was going on in the world.
So imagine my surprise when I woke up on Saturday to the news that a big storm was heading to New York City. The reports coming from the East Coast were full of panic and fear—I began to worry. There was talk of high winds breaking windows, power outages, and more. What should I do? My flight back to New York wasn’t planned for Sunday but I considered changing it so I could return to New York and guard my apartment against destruction. Of course, this was foolish thinking and when the mayor announced areas of my neighborhood would be evacuated, I decided to spend a week in Texas until the storm passed. It was an excellent decision.
As it happened, my apartment was without power for four days, which would not have been fun. If you’re from Houston, you’ve probably been there before and know that eating peanut butter and playing board games gets old after a while. That said, no power would have been the worst of the storm for me, as so many others have suffered much, much more.
There are still plenty of people without electricity, without running water, without heat, and without homes—it’s devastating to hear the news. You try to help in whatever way that you can, but you may feel that it’s not enough. It’s at this point that I sit back and just feel grateful for the ability to do something—no matter how small or how grand the gesture may be.
Read more »
Comments
Post a Comment