Earthquakes, Fires, and Hurricanes, Oh My!

Our exciting week filled with natural disasters has finally come to a close. We have experienced an earthquake, a wildfire (in the Great Dismal Swamp-isn't that the best swamp name ever?), a hurricane (Irene), and now we are on flood alert! So, the Sammons family has been shining a light on our preparedness (or lack there of) and enjoying lots of together time.

Early in the week, one thing quickly became clear; the Sammons family does not do natural disasters well. When the earthquake struck, we all emerged from our bromidic existence as though someone had stuck a garden hose in our rabbit hole. We ran around trying to figure out why the entire cottage was shaking like an unevenly weighted washing machine! As a matter of fact, S.H. (Steadfast Husband) checked the washing machine no less than 3 times. Not only was it not even turned on, but our fabulous washer is incapable of shaking our entire home including the foundation. Even Violet, (our adorable, semi-intelligent dog) was totally confused! So much for animal instinct, although I'm not sure if it was the earth shaking or the washing machine checking that really had her perplexed.

After clearing the washing machine as a suspect, and ruling out a dozen other scenarios, our 9-year-old asked, "Was it an earthquake?" To which we quickly replied, "Of course not."  In our defense, we are on the East Coast and don't know from earthquakes. Thank you CNN for up-to-the-minute breaking news-because of you, we only embarrassed ourselves amongst ourselves!

When the first aftershock occurred, S.H. ran to the washing machine, again, to see if it was off-balance, again, only to discover it still wasn't on (really!?!)! Clearly, some of us are slow learners! For the next 24 hours, the earthquake was all we talked about and fretted over. Then it was forgotten like yesterday's news (which, well, it was). Two nights after the initial earthquake, we had a strong aftershock that woke me up, but no one else even stirred. I couldn't even get anyone fired-up about it the next day. I didn't really have time to wallow in the lack of enthusiasm, on to the next act of God we marched!

The Great Dismal Swamp fire didn't directly affect us. By which I mean, we weren't ordered to evacuate, hose down our home or wear gas masks, however, the smell of burning swamp wafted over to our neck of the woods and hung in the air like cheap perfume. Walking outside, we were smacked with what smelled like a damp campfire. The smell is finally gone; I'm not sure if we're just acclimated to it or if Hurricane Irene blew the smell away.

Come on, Irene! Over the next couple of days, hurricane warnings continued to escalate.  I decided we would not be caught unprepared/unaware for another natural disaster, so I did a little research and decided in addition to water, flashlights, canned food, blankets, candles, lighters and water-filled bathtubs and buckets (to enable toilet flushing-a major priority) our hurricane preparedness needed to include fun, time-filling, activities. We gathered some board games, the Uno cards, vinyl records and brought the record player out. I also found some fun artsy activities online for which we already had supplies!

For the better part of the day, everyone did their own thing, but as Irene inched closer, and a branch hit the skylight, we decided to bring everyone downstairs and the togetherness began! We still had electricity, so we worked on melted crayon art while listening to records. What a fabulously, fun mess!

At 5:00, I decided to go ahead and cook dinner in case our electricity went out. (Before the storm, we made sure we had gas for the grill-which would have been great-if grilling during a tropical storm was in any way advisable!) As I hurried to cook dinner our 17 year-old said "Dinner at 4:15? What are we 80?!?" (Exaggeration for dramatic effect is a family trait! It really was 5:00). I patiently explained to her that we could lose electricity at any minute and raw spaghetti, no matter how much sauce you put on it, is just nasty.

She then decided to embrace the drama of worrying about the hurricane. When another large branch loudly hit our roof, she went to the sports equipment closet and retrieved a bicycle helmet that she proceeded to wear for the remainder of the evening. The bummer is, I am the only one who made fun of her! I admit to not discouraging her (okay really-I strongly encouraged her), if only because I found it hysterical and thought her siblings would join in the merriment. But...nothing. Everyone went on about their business with nary a glance at her way! Really?!? What the stink is the matter with these children? Sometimes my home training goes totally astray. What a disappointment!

The sweatshirt was added under the helmet after she decided it needed some padding! Because if a beam falls on your head, you don't want it to be uncomfortable!

As for me, I was on www.Pinterest.com until the cable went out, then I went to bed!