Storm

Once again, I appear to have escaped

This is a spot on the street where I often park my car.

Fortunately, today I left for work at 11:05 and missed the storm that hit Philly. The drive home was scary: tons of traffic lights out. My colleague who rides with me did a great job of helping me navigate some frightening intersections. There were so many giant trees down all over the city. Large portions of town look to be out of power. The fire department is out, and people are inspecting the property.

Miraculously, our house is okay and the power is on. I was so eager to get to Loviefluffy and make sure she was safe. She is fine - just ate her wet food supper, had a cuddle on the bed and was ready to give me a little bite as normal.

Tomorrow is the one day off we have of the week. On Friday and Saturday we have a shorter day because the kids take the full SAT in the morning, supervised by the TAs. We come in to teach from 12:30-3:30.

Many of my neighbors are without power. It looks like a lot of trees fell on cars and homes. The top of a tree landed in the tiny backyard. I texted my landlords to let them know. So far I can’t see any damage to the house but I haven’t given it a full tour yet. My own apartment, one of five in an old Victorian, seems okay.

Once again, I feel like I am so lucky. If I hadn’t been working my car might have been destroyed. The 2004 Subaru is way too old to have comprehensive care on her insurance, so if a tree fell on her, I’d have no car. And I have six more weeks that I must drive to work and back six days a week. I don’t have the money to buy another car. Life is always a little scary, but today, I was again lucky.

I’m a little shaken up from the drive and from being scared about Loviefluffy. But she’s fine, I’m fine, we are all fine. I have a day off now, though plenty of things to do.

I think I will watch another Korean romantic comedy. Something light. I’m exhausted from the week - the teaching is intense and the drive an hour each way is really hard. It’s not easy driving, very urban with lots of traffic and crazy people double parking and ignoring traffic laws, so it’s not my favorite. But getting to the best kids in the world and being a part of their educational journey is all worth it.

Thank you God for bringing me safely home. Thank you all for being part of my life.