my secret life as an alarmist
Two nights ago, I was rudely awakened by the emergency weather alarm on my mobile. I stumbled to where it was charging, stopped the alarm, stumbled back to bed, and promptly fell asleep.
Yesterday at work, the alarm went off again. Everybody's phones were sounding the alarms. Chicago was having some “interesting” weather.
When I lived in New Orleans, my phone was always announcing a weather alarm, it seems. But I hadn't heard it since returning to Chicago.
It’s a heartstopping thing to hear, even when one is not sound asleep. And hearing it so often in New Orleans was something I never got used to. It frightened me to death, as visions of another Katrina and levees breaking tumbled through my brain. (Those of you that have known me for a long time know that my mind can quickly travel to the worst case scenario despite the odds of that not happening.) Not having a car, and not knowing anyone for the first six months, I worked on memorising the locations of the markers signifying bus pick up locations for evacuations. This always caused more anxiety, of course. Because I could only bring two “carry-ons” and my two pieces were Mollie Malone and Madeleine Manx.
See? I'm going there again. Hahaha.
I guess my point is to be prepared with a plan, but not to let the what ifs consume you. We are going to be seeing more and more “weather” due to climate change and don't get me started on that Delaware-sized iceberg breaking off Antarctica.
Yesterday at work, the alarm went off again. Everybody's phones were sounding the alarms. Chicago was having some “interesting” weather.
When I lived in New Orleans, my phone was always announcing a weather alarm, it seems. But I hadn't heard it since returning to Chicago.
It’s a heartstopping thing to hear, even when one is not sound asleep. And hearing it so often in New Orleans was something I never got used to. It frightened me to death, as visions of another Katrina and levees breaking tumbled through my brain. (Those of you that have known me for a long time know that my mind can quickly travel to the worst case scenario despite the odds of that not happening.) Not having a car, and not knowing anyone for the first six months, I worked on memorising the locations of the markers signifying bus pick up locations for evacuations. This always caused more anxiety, of course. Because I could only bring two “carry-ons” and my two pieces were Mollie Malone and Madeleine Manx.
See? I'm going there again. Hahaha.
I guess my point is to be prepared with a plan, but not to let the what ifs consume you. We are going to be seeing more and more “weather” due to climate change and don't get me started on that Delaware-sized iceberg breaking off Antarctica.
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| From my window at work, just before ten a.m. on Wednesday, 12 July 2017 ©Trish Korous |
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