When Is the Pyrotechnic Show?

This will be mercifully short for you to read as it my first attempt at a real blog. All I can say is: "An earthquake and a hurricane in one week? Really?"

Mofongo (it's not a curse word) Puerto Rico's answer to a falafal

I didn't feel the earthquake this past week. I was crossing the street to eat mofongo with a teacher at Coconuts, a little place across the street from school, and was oblivious to the shaking which prompted people to pour out of their buildings and stand on the sidewalk moments later, covering their ears to the firetrucks screaming down to the Holland Tunnel.

I did feel the hurricane. Like a big baby, I opted to take off to Princeton to spend the hurricane with my sister and her husband. I figured if I were to be without power and water, I'd rather be hot, smelly, and in the dark with loved ones than by myself in my little two rooms with one usable window. However, the Sisters kindly offered me to come to the convent to ride it out for three days. Even a hurricane couldn't move me to do so, much as I appreciated the warmth and sincerity of their gesture. In the end, all was well and we have much to be thankful for, as Margaret and my family members were truly in harm's way, yet came through with little damage. As it turned out, Princeton was hit harder than Jersey City (downed power lines, felled trees, flooded streets, no traffic lights), at least in the section where I live in JC.

Huge Princeton mushrooms grew before our very eyes in the deluge

When I took a walk this evening to survey the damage in my neighborhood, you really wouldn't know that we had a hurricane in my part of the city. I think it's because we don't really have trees and the buildings have flat roofs. They are close together, squat, old and made of stone, not glass. We really don't have any buildings over 10 stories.

Bottom of my sister's street, but it's not her car

The only other highlight to my week was that I decided I would touch up my roots. My Bloomington hairdresser urged me to color my hair myself to save money out here and promised me it was "so easy a monkey could do it." Some of you have heard me say over the years that if I moved somewhere for 6 months where nobody knew me, I'd stop coloring my hair, but I lied. In this environment, I need all the confidence I can muster or purchase. So if my fake auburn hues ward off would-be attackers, so be it. It is not vanity. It is a form of self-defense.Anyway, I figured that in the wake of two natural disasters, it would be a good time to try my hand at auto-cosmetology. If I messed up and looked like a freak, people wouldn't notice or would just be glad I was alive. I'm not posting a picture of the outcome, but I assure you there are no further disasters to report.

Next week we finally start school and STUDENTS come for real!I am so excited!
Peace and thanks for your good thoughts and prayers and well-wishes.