And The Anchor Held

I'd been hearing about a storm named Sandy that might come up the coast, but no one knew where it would land. So I diligently checked the weather twice daily through the week to see what was forecast. When I learned landfall would likely be NJ/NYC, I initially thought, "Okay. We'll get a Nor'easter-type storm.  All's good." Then I got a good look at the size of Sandy and realized the Connecticut coast was in for some major weather...some said it would be a "Nor'easter on steroids."

Whoa. That was on Friday, October 26th. So that Saturday after putting in 4 hours of overtime at work, I rushed home to "mulch" (as in mow) my leaves.  After 3 hours of that I headed to my cousin's for a few quick pics of her party guests. Home, relax, appreciate power. Sunday up and to church and the rest is a bit of a blur.

I live abut 15 minutes in from the coast and where I grew up and lived for most of my adult life.  With relatives on the immediate coast, I opted to stay with a cousin. They have 4 houses in the area and one or all of them might need help bailing water out of basements if the sump pumps couldn't keep up. Okay, and the total truth is I love storms...they are a magnificent display of God to me. There is always destruction, but also good things come out of the ashes so-to-speak.

Adrenaline builds on the coast as you ready for the storm...batteries and lanterns, water, medicines, rain gear, non-perishables, full gas tanks, cameras & lots of memory because some people sneak out in the storm, clothes and running around to family houses to check on everyone.

Monday morning my cousin and hostess, Janine, and I were up and out taking before pictures. High tide was hours away when these were taken.

On the waterfront early Monday at DeBiasi's dock.

The Town Dock where I spent many summers rock crabbing and diving off of the pilings. Woosh!

Can't resist playing in the wind!

Rathbun's, Anderson's & DeBiasi's Docks before the bad part! High tide still hours away.

Looking toward the mouth of the Mystic River from the middle of Snake Hill. The big, red buoys were tipping over due to the wind and current.  It takes a lot to tip those guys over!

We had been without power since 9:30 a.m. on Monday and at this point all I wanted was a hot coffee. We found a Dunkin' Donuts still open at noon and got some extra large hot java before cruising around Mystic, CT for before shots. If the worst of the storm had occurred during daylight hours, I'd have some "during" shots.  However, Sandy was not cooperative and even though Janine and I took a ride to determine how to get into the village where her mom lives if we needed to, it was total darkness. I'll just say it was an interesting ride. So I'll just take you to the After The Bad Part shots.

Town Dock...going to need a little work, but not bad.

Granite bench at the Town Dock. Took some powerful water to lift that slab!

There must have been quite a wind gust and suction to pull the curtain between the plate glass window and the wood frame.

Defying gravity on Elm St.  The pine was leaning, not down...yet. The problem with evergreen trees on the coast is their root systems are wide, but very shallow.

Two trees, side by side, each about 70 feet tall went down.  These are their root balls.  Fortunately, the house they fell toward was set back and sustained little damage.

Sand clean up on Pequot Avenue in New London.

Floating docks from the yacht club (building on the right) floated out of the parking lot and blocked the road.

 

What lays across the road is the branch of the tree you see on the right.  We had really hoped the whole tree would come down and be done with it! The property on the right with the stone wall and For Sale sign is my Aunt's home.

Couldn't resist a bit of hurricane humor in Downtown Mystic!

Yep! We ate healthy without power! Gotta always have chocolate...that's in a survivor's guide somewhere...really...it is.

And the anchor held.  This is actually my favorite picture.  This home has always had the ancient anchor on their rock outcropping.  In spite of the fury of the wind and water, the anchor didn't budge. This reminded me that Jesus is my Anchor....He doesn't budge, fail, get knocked around by wind or water.  As long as I have Him as my anchor, neither will I.

So that was Monday and Tuesday. This small part of the Connecticut coast fared well all things considered.  There was no loss of life. Water damage to homes and belongings, yes. Without power, yes. Inconvenient and uncomfortable, yes.  Serious destruction to the west and east of us.... but the Anchor held in my little corner.