Where to begin? What can you say? So much destruction, so much pain, so much loss, so much mess. We were warned…. we took precautions…we put away the outside furniture, we took what we could out of the freezer and we dutifully left as we were told to do. It was a teary good-bye on Sunday afternoon as we pulled away from the cottage not knowing when we would return and what would we find when we got there.
New York City seemed to be the much safer place for us and then again we didn’t really have the choice that we had a year ago, when we decided to ride out the storm with Hurricane Irene. This time, mandatory evacuation was insistent and I reluctantly went along with the plan. I had plans for Monday and Tuesday in the City anyway. So back in our apartment we unpacked, ate dinner and went to bed listening to some light wind but not much more.
This morning it was raining lightly and since the Mayor closed the subways and stopped the busses, most of Manhattan’s residents woke up with a day off! We went to The Mansion for breakfast with my daughter Chiara, her husband, my sister-in-law, her son and of course Finley and Francesca. The place was MOBBED! There was a festive mood throughout the diner, really like having an unexpected snow day when you’re in school. The City was virtually closed, Broadway was dark, schools were closed, Wall Street was closed, the airports were open but 95% of the flights were cancelled.
By 1pm the winds were really whipping around. It kept swirling around creating waves of whooshing sound. By 4pm it was raining and the wind was extremely strong and by the time I walked home 6 blocks I was drenched and winded. Things started to go downhill rapidly from that point on.
Soon the windows were rattling and rain and wind pounded against the panes. By now every television in the apartment was on tuned to either CNN or ABC. Reports started coming in as the menacing storm raced to our coast line. We were stressed to the max dividing our anxiety between Ocean Grove and Manhattan. We felt fairly secure in our home 14 floors up but so uncertain as to what was happening to our little cottage La Vie en Rose as it sat squarely in the path of Hurricane Sandy. And I was concerned for about the tea room at The Lillagaard. The hotel sat only 2 properties in from the boardwalk and was extremely vulnerable – it also had been locked up, sand-bagged and left to fend off the storm by itself.
It’s now 11:30pm and the following is a partial list of the highlights, well actually the horrors of the Hurricane:
NEW YORK CITY
A construction crane 90 stories high in what has been called the Billionaire’s Building partially collapses and is presently dangling over the very busy, highly-trafficked West 57th St. Buildings all around the building were evacuated. My cousin had to leave her home on the corner of W. 57th and 6th Avenue. Con-Ed shut down the power in the building and the gas.
Hundreds of trees came down, littering residential side streets and I saw one fall on First Avenue – not exactly what you expect to see in The City.
The subway entrances were cordoned off and sand-bagged, the grates sealed down, the entire system shut down in hope of preventing any salt water from entering the tunnels.
Battery Park City at the bottom of Manhattan was flooded by noon. Eventually there was over 13′ of water running over the walls. The Hudson River breached the West Side Highway and was running eastward on 23rd St. The East River breached and flooded FDR Drive.
There were a series of explosions as transformers blew up and one sub-station. Con-Ed also voluntarily shut down some areas to preserve equipment. By 10pm most of Manhattan south of 42nd Street and from river to river was dark – NO POWER.
Our lights are flickering every now and then and earlier this evening I lost cable tv and internet access.
No school tomorrow, no subways, no busses, and maybe no power. At this hour every tunnel and bridge are closed so you can’t get in and you can’t get out! How long can the few restaurants that were open or the few grocery stores open last without receiving new supplies.
OCEAN GROVE
I agonized most of the day trying to find out what was happening to our seaside community. Tonight I was able to get online and check out Blogfinger – Ocean Grove Faces Hurricane Sandy’s Destruction
The Garden State Parkway was closed south of exit 129, the New Jersey Turnpike was closed.
Neptune Township restricted traffic on municipal streets. Police banned cars from Ocean Avenue and people from walking along the boardwalk.
Mandatory evacuation was extended further west and along streets near the lakes.
Additional man-made sand bermes were made along South Beach.
By mid-afternoon and mid-tide, the ocean had risen to the top of the Fishing Pier.
The high tide breached the dunes and washed over the boardwalk. Water ran west as far as Beach Ave and a storm surge flooded New York Avenue and Broadway. Power was out in most if not all of Ocean Grove.
Wind and waves destroyed the fishing shack on the Fishing Pier. Part of the roof of the Great Auditorium was blown off.
A tree came down on the corner of Central and Main and also one at the corner of Main and New Jersey Avenue.
Hurricane Sandy brings down a tree
Photo taken by Mary Walton for Blogfinger
The Fishing Pier 5pm Monday October 29th
Photo taken by Mary Walton for Blogfinger
The news is most disheartening and I think I will be canceling my Wednesday plans are heading back to New Jersey to assess the damage and see what state the Lillagaard and the tea room are in. In the great scheme of things, the loss of food is minor, even though it creates a disgusting mess. However, prior to leaving I spent considerable time baking in preparation for some imminent tea services. Right now the thought of having to bake everything all over again and shop for all the food destroyed is pretty grim – BUT as I said I know that’s so minor compared to the real devastation and loss wreaked by this vicious act of Mother Nature.
Well, let’s see what tomorrow brings. The lights are still flickering here, so I have filled the bathtub with water to flush the toilet, filled water bottles for drinking water and two huge pots for cooking water.
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Bill Ding and his band of clowns are the security patrol for this blog site. He is a favorite toy from the 50*s. By the way sometimes a blog is just an ego-maniacal stream of conscience.
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NEIL SEDAKA – 60 Years of Love Songs-Telling It Like It Is!
Posted in From My Point of View - Personal commentary on Movies and Books, Ha-P 2 B in OG, Smooth or Crunchy, tagged Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (song), Brooklyn, Calendar Girl, Great Auditorium, Lonely Night, Music, Neil, Neil Sedaka, Tokens on August 19, 2012| 1 Comment »
American singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. Taken at the 2007 Scream Awards. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When you hear someone say, “Neil Sedaka,” what do you think of? I believe most people think of some 50’s simplistic Rock and Roll tune, like the happy-go-lucky-even-if-slightly-naieve, Next Door To An Angel. If that’s what you’re thinking, then please read on because the next time you hear the name, Neil Sedaka, you’re going to think twice. NO, not twice more like somewhere between 300-500 – that’s how many songs he wrote. Neil Sedaka is a consummate composer. I tried to do some quick research and find the answer to this burning question – just how many songs did Neil Sedaka write and/or cowrite? I found a list of about 270 titles and in Wikipedia, it says he wrote 500. Either way, it’s one hell of a lot of musical talent.
Neil Sedaka was playing the piano when he was eight years old. When he was in high school in Brooklyn, NY he formed a Doo Wop group with now-famous classmates, known as The Tokens. He was accepted into the prestigious Julliard School of Music in Manhattan, where his parents hoped he would become a concert pianist. He is a concert pianist, he just doesn’t perform as one – believe me he plays beautifully as he demonstrated tonight at the end of his concert.
BUT tonight’s concert inspired this blog, not so much as a review of his performance but rather more as an homage to his enduring creative talent, a God-given gift (his words). I wanted to use the word, genius, however, genius connotes (to me anyway) a talent at an extraordinary level. Maybe he is composing at an extraordinary level and I don’t recognize it because he makes it seem so easy. As he said; he sits at the piano, comes up with a tempo, then a melody and then lyrics. Sounds simple, right? NOT!
For me, this evening was yet another trip down nostalgia lane. Oh those songs! I think I sat there with a lump in my throat for most of the evening and a couple brought tears to my eyes. The love songs had lyrics that pluck at your heart-strings. I guess when you’re a woman of a certain age you can’t help but remember where you were, who you were with and when. I can’t tell you what I had for dinner 4 nights ago, but I knew every word to every song! Scary isn’t it? And most of all I think his lyrics tell it like it is. Mr. Sedaka said that he drew inspiration for his songs from his family and friends. And the he told us he has been married to the lovely Leba, his wife of 50 years. She must truly be the love of his life – how else could one feel and express such emotion. From heartbreak to regrets, to wishing and dreaming of true love, and from longing to loving forever, the music plays on, the romance continues and all in words you can clearly understand and remember!
The following are just a few of the songs performed this evening:
Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Love Will Keep Us Together
Laughter In The Rain
And also the sad but very real Solitaire, Lonely Night, Should Have Never Let You Go, I Let You Walk Away. The lyrics are haunting. Often at a concert, the performer introduces some new song they’ve written or recorded and I have mostly been disappointed. Not so tonight. Neil Sedaka is still writing songs and sang one from a few years ago, You. Now that’s a love song! It had to appeal to the large majority of middle-age couples and seniors in the audience. It is a story of the lifetime love between two people, very sweet. I loved it!
Neil Sedaka has been writing and singing songs for over 55 years. The list is way too long for this blog, for as he said tonight, “I’ve a got a million”. However, so many of the songs were hits and released many times over by various artists, I think you’ll know every one of them:
Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen
Earth Angel
Carol
Alone At Last
Angel Eyes
Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Cathy’s Clown
It’s All In The Game
Climb Up (Stairway to Heaven)
Proud Mary
Stagger Lee
Tears On My Pillow
The Diary
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