By the time Irene brought wind and rain to Massachusetts, it had been downgraded to a tropical storm. For a once mighty hurricane, this is the equivalent of getting sent down to Triple-A – a sure sign that it was no longer elite. As a tropical storm it did quite a bit of damage and reminded people that we do still have a state known as Vermont.
There were a number of power outages in my town and my family was among the few that kept the lights on. I hesitate to say that we did not “suffer” a power outage because suffering implies some real hardship. I would have been annoyed if the power went out, and my son would not have been able to listen to music, but 150 years ago there would have been no reason to worry about restoring power after a hurricane. We’ve got it good these days.
As with any major potentially cataclysmic event, there has already been some ruckus about the event being god’s punishment for any number of supposed crimes – gay marriage, the president’s vacation, Ben & Jerry, the raising of the debt ceiling, or Lady Gaga. Michele Bachmann claims she was joking – and, in her defense, if everyone already thinks your bats*** crazy, why not have a little fun with it? If you want to believe that extreme events are divine punishment from an angry, petty and vengeful god, so be it, but that god sounds like it has some growing up to do.
For now, I am thankful that I have power and am enjoying the second consecutive beautiful day since the wind and rain gave my four-year-old a severe case of cabin fever. What are the odds that someone will use today as “proof” that climate change does not exist?
