Posted by partlycloudy on September 10, 2004, at 15:04:40
I think because everyone around me is anxious about Hurrican Ivan, I feel like my anxiety and panic are valid and they have this tight grip on my heart and throat. One by one the people at work are going home, going to make their homes safe, buying what supplies they can before the stores run out. This state hasn't had a chance to recover from the last storm - there are still Red Cross teams here from all over the country. I don't plan to watch the reports on tv like I did last time. Turns out that the weather reporters get specific instructions to make sure they are standing in the wind, getting rained on, and have palm trees in the background. I don't need garbage like that to induce even more panic. Russian terrorists? Iraq? Afganistan? Pshaw (how do you spell that word??). Nothing compares to the Drama of Preparing For Ivan, or Recovering From Frances, Or Narrowly Escaping Charley. No wonder I would rather sit and read Sylvia Plath's unabridged journals than watch that stuff.
And yet, this panic I feel is a static one. It's not getting worse or better. It's a constant state and will remain so until the storm ultimately makes its journey. Watching it approach doesn't make us any safer. It's possible we'll have to evacuate again - who knows? It is just weird to see so many people in the grip of the same anxiety I live with every day.
Enough rambling. Sorry for so many posts today - my fingers can't stop talking.
pc
poster:partlycloudy
thread:389272
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20040907/msgs/389272.html