Living on Cape Cod and growing up in Southern New England, I always keep a wary eye on the tropics at this time of year. With Hurricane Irene looking like it will be a category 3 or even 4 by the time it reaches the U.S. shores late in the week my thoughts turn to "what if" as it relates to my guitars and electronics. I live about a half mile from West Falmouth Harbor and 20 years ago when we had our last hit from a hurricane (Bob) the water reached to within a few feet of my back deck - and that was just a category 2 storm that hit at low tide. It's not a question of "if" - it is certainly "when" I have to deal with a huge storm.
My parents had two events in their lives by which all other events were measured: World War II and the Great Hurricane of 1938. I grew up with stories of the massive destruction that the great storm did in most of Southern New England and it was scary indeed. In fact, my first vivid memory of my life was standing at the top of the hill next to the Baptist church, holding my grandmother's hand and looking down at Main Street in Mystic after a huge hurricane had passed, probably Carol in 1954 and seeing all the stores with water up to their second stories. So you can see why the possibility of a massive storm gives me the chills.
So what would I do with my instruments is a storm was definitely approaching? Most likely I would move them up to the second story of my house and hope the winds didn't blow my roof off. Same thing with the electronics. Then it would be time to decide what to do about the other valuables in my house. What if we had to evacuate? That's a harder question. I'm inclined to think I would pack up at least four of my guitars and pack them in the cab of my truck, leaving Kathy's Nissan for the other things we might need if we had to leave the house for a while. Some might question my priorities I guess but the very idea of having beautiful (and valuable!) Martins and Taylors destroyed by flood waters just breaks my heart.
So, time will tell. And we are really only at the beginning of the hurricane season.
Peace & good music,
Gene
My parents had two events in their lives by which all other events were measured: World War II and the Great Hurricane of 1938. I grew up with stories of the massive destruction that the great storm did in most of Southern New England and it was scary indeed. In fact, my first vivid memory of my life was standing at the top of the hill next to the Baptist church, holding my grandmother's hand and looking down at Main Street in Mystic after a huge hurricane had passed, probably Carol in 1954 and seeing all the stores with water up to their second stories. So you can see why the possibility of a massive storm gives me the chills.
So what would I do with my instruments is a storm was definitely approaching? Most likely I would move them up to the second story of my house and hope the winds didn't blow my roof off. Same thing with the electronics. Then it would be time to decide what to do about the other valuables in my house. What if we had to evacuate? That's a harder question. I'm inclined to think I would pack up at least four of my guitars and pack them in the cab of my truck, leaving Kathy's Nissan for the other things we might need if we had to leave the house for a while. Some might question my priorities I guess but the very idea of having beautiful (and valuable!) Martins and Taylors destroyed by flood waters just breaks my heart.
So, time will tell. And we are really only at the beginning of the hurricane season.
Peace & good music,
Gene
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