Bethany remains without power, as does much of the surrounding towns and villages, although more and more employees report that they are coming back on-line.
Still, the MLMs are here for meals and showers, and some employees are staying over who have either no electricity or who live in NYC and have no way to get to work, as many subways are still closed. Buses are free, but Mayor Bloomberg has restricted vehicles with less than three occupants from entering the city.
The 39th Street House remains powerless, forcing guys there to walk up flights of stairs in total darkness. Apparently the very expensive generator that was installed a few years ago requires fuel to operate. Who knew?
Some groups scheduled to come here in the next few days have cancelled. I cancelled my Friday Night Meeting at the Queen church and we had to cancel the Junior High retreat this coming weekend as the retreat house in Glen Cove remains without electricity.
The transformer across from the Potter House (where Ryder Road was officially roped off because of the down tree across the power lines) blew yesterday. Thankfully the Ossining Fire Department was on hand and put out the blaze, but such incidents prolong the darkness for our neighbors.
Fr. Jack King was finally interred yesterday afternoon when the cement vault finally arrived. Remaining family and about five Maryknollers were present along with our hardworking grounds crew.
Fr. Emile Dumas was finally able to make it out of JFK at around 1:30 this morning on his way to Asia to give a retreat. Similarly, Father Mike Duggan, US regional superior, is due back tonight from Texas. LaGuardia airport was the last to reopen once the runways re-emerged from the water.
In the city and nearby, long lines of cars await gasoline—presuming the stations have power to operate pumps and they don't run out of gas. No gouging—yet.
I think it is useless to ask when life here in the Northeast will "get back to normal." Rather we would do well to accept the fact that the definition of normal has changed.
Still, the MLMs are here for meals and showers, and some employees are staying over who have either no electricity or who live in NYC and have no way to get to work, as many subways are still closed. Buses are free, but Mayor Bloomberg has restricted vehicles with less than three occupants from entering the city.
The 39th Street House remains powerless, forcing guys there to walk up flights of stairs in total darkness. Apparently the very expensive generator that was installed a few years ago requires fuel to operate. Who knew?
Some groups scheduled to come here in the next few days have cancelled. I cancelled my Friday Night Meeting at the Queen church and we had to cancel the Junior High retreat this coming weekend as the retreat house in Glen Cove remains without electricity.
The transformer across from the Potter House (where Ryder Road was officially roped off because of the down tree across the power lines) blew yesterday. Thankfully the Ossining Fire Department was on hand and put out the blaze, but such incidents prolong the darkness for our neighbors.
Fr. Jack King was finally interred yesterday afternoon when the cement vault finally arrived. Remaining family and about five Maryknollers were present along with our hardworking grounds crew.
Fr. Emile Dumas was finally able to make it out of JFK at around 1:30 this morning on his way to Asia to give a retreat. Similarly, Father Mike Duggan, US regional superior, is due back tonight from Texas. LaGuardia airport was the last to reopen once the runways re-emerged from the water.
In the city and nearby, long lines of cars await gasoline—presuming the stations have power to operate pumps and they don't run out of gas. No gouging—yet.
I think it is useless to ask when life here in the Northeast will "get back to normal." Rather we would do well to accept the fact that the definition of normal has changed.
No comments:
Post a Comment