STILL RECOVERING

Spent a good weekend in The Berkshires where the damage from Sandy was minimal, mostly just a few power outages. Saw my oldest son play with the band he's in, BELL ENGINE, and the level of musicianship was as impressive as ever. Saw his son perform in a play at school put on by mostly 8th graders and he was singularly impressive, staying in character no matter what and getting some of the best laughs and never not being heard in the back of the house.

Driving back today it was like returning to almost a different world. The number of downed trees increased, the lines at gas stations grew, and then the obvious lack of electricity became apparent. By the time we pulled off the highway in Union heading into Vauxhall, the traffic lights were out, temporary stop signs had been set up, trees were still in some roads. Back in our town, a lot of folks who didn't have power now do, but a lot still don't. My youngest son's high school is open tomorrow for the first time in over a week, but several elementary schools aren't because either they don't have power or the nearby streets still have downed wires and trees blocking them.

It was heartening to see all the out-of-state utility trucks, or whatever you call the electric company trucks that have those little bucket extensions. As it's heartening to see so many people able to get warm and be dry. But still distressful to see so many still without power and many even without homes. The death toll continues to rise and more devastation continues to be revealed.

And now another storm is headed our way. Not as big, not as strong, not as bad, but still with gusts expected to get as high as sixty miles an hour. That can only mean more trees down and taking wires with them. Fingers crossed, hoping it misses all of us.