blackout in NYC

It is the 10 year anniversary of the huge blackout on the East Coast.  I was just listening to NPR and they did a piece about it.  A flood of memories came back from that hot, sticky day.  I was visiting a friend in NYC.  I went every summer for 4 summers in a row.  I love that city so much.
Anyways, 10 years ago today, while my friend was at work, I went to the Cloisters.

If you have never been to the Cloisters, it is a magical place...you feel like you have traveled back in time, like you are in a medieval European castle.  If you have never been, let me tell you, it is WAY out in NYC, up in Washington Heights.  My friend lives in Brooklyn, so it is a long subway ride up there.  I spent the day there.  We were going to be meeting up for a baseball game in Queens after my friend got off work.  After relaxing at the Cloisters, I sat on a bench, in a butterfly garden, along the Hudson River, writing postcards.  I almost got up and started walking to the subway station, but decided that I would linger a bit longer and enjoy the scenery.  I was also thinking, "wouldn't that be crazy if something major happened, I wouldn't even know because I am way up here in the Cloisters".   (I was in NYC about a week before 9/11. I was down at the world trade center, staring up at the huge buildings, deciding if I was going to go in or not.  I decided to wait until next time since I was too tired from a day of site seeing.)

When I finally did decide to leave (didn't want to be late for the game), I couldn't get to the subway station, there was a big strip of caution tape preventing me to enter.  Hmmm, weird, I thought.  I asked a passerby, a woman and I can still remember what she looks like, what was going on.  She said, "Haven't you heard?  The whole Eastern seaboard is out of electricity.  It is a complete blackout!"

"Oh sh*#@", I said.  Now, I am a very savvy subway rider, can figure out my way all over the city, not so much with a bus.  I couldn't believe that I chose this day to venture so far from my NYC home of Brooklyn.  I asked around and got on the bus that was heading back downtown.  I was so lucky that I was able to get on the bus in Washington Heights, where the bus was empty.  As we headed downtown, the bus was filling up fast.   It soon became unbearable for me to be on the bus, it was so completely packed.  I decided I would have to walk the rest of the way back to Brooklyn.  I was also completely panicked because I couldn't reach my friend by phone.  I got off the bus at midtown and started walking.  It ended up being about a 10 mile walk, on a hot sticky day, in flip flops.  What was so amazing to me was the camaraderie of the people.  Everyone was with their friends and newly made friends, having drinks on stoops, handing out watermelon pieces to all of us folks walking by, passing out cold drinks.  I ended up walking with a guy that was also headed over the bridge to Brooklyn.  I was so happy to find someone to walk with because it was getting dark.  As we were walking across the bridge, it was completely dark. The city looked so strange with no lights.  Some building had generators, but for the most part, it was dark.

I finally made it back to where I needed to be and my friend was there waiting for me.  She lived on the 7th floor, which meant no elevator!  I was just happy to be back.  But the craziness didn't end there.  For some reason, the block she lived on didn't get electricity back as quickly as the neighbors even across the street.  We were out of electricity for 3 days, which in a hot sticky New York summer is a whole lot of days.  I remember we walked  to a neighborhood convenient store to buy water.  As we were trudging back, walking up the 7 hot flight stairs with our super heavy water containers, we were both in tears.  We decided that if the electricity wasn't coming back on in the next few hours, we were going to stay in a hotel.  Imagine, no AC and no running water for 3 days.  It was getting pretty nasty.

Well, hallelujah, the electricity came back on!  I will never forget that experience.  So, when I was listening to NPR this morning, it really made me reminisce.  10 years ago, how different my life was...no Scott, no kids!  I can't even imagine having all the time in the world to spend at the Cloisters now!  When I told Kekoa this morning, he said, "it was just you mama".  

Thank you for going down this trip memory lane with me!