Hurricanes, Weddings, Tragedies...

I walked to Fifth Avenue feeling the warm, humid air of Hurricane Hannah that was starting to kiss Manhattan. It always amazes me when what was a hurricane in the Caribbean heads north
and touches us with its wet embrace, posing no harm but still enveloping us with the casual sense of 'it could happen here'. A Katrina moment is a possibility for New York City and I knock on wood as I think that. There is a 7% chance a major hurricane will hit New York City this year, that's a Category 3 or more, and there is a 90% chance that one will hit in the next 50 years. That's according to the Everybody-Who-Knows-Anything-About-Hurricane-Bureau. So sooner or later it's going to happen. The Great Hurricane that struck in 1938 was mostly a non-event as has been every hurricane since. In 1991 Hurricane Bob struck and that's about what it did was "bob" and when in 1985 Hurricane Gloria hit I remember going to the East River during it and it was pretty fun to watch what little traffic there was dodging huge splashes because the storm surge made the East River flood onto the FDR. So as I soaked in the moist embrace of Hannah I remembered that truly something of gigantic proportion could strike New York City and what would be the consequences? As I strode on in this tragedy thinking, I looked up at a horse drawn carriage, standing at a church, bride and groom and entourage happy as happy can be, smiling as bright as light. I took a picture of them all, surely not interested in major hurricanes or the remains of a hurricane that was wafting the bride's veil. There are more important things to people than tragedies. The rain began to spill from the sky like a bride's blubbering. I was soaked before I got home but a dry towel and some watching of other people being soaked by the remnants of Hanna made me feel free and unencumbered by the fears of impending tragedies..