"Nothing Gold Can Stay"

It's not often that I can't find the words to express something, but this time, Hurricane Sandy's taken the cake.  Several friends stayed in a homeless shelter last night because their houses were either flooded or swept off their foundation.  Thousands of boats were pulled out to sea.  The boardwalk at my favorite beach was dragged into the Atlantic, sand covers the streets 1/2 mile inland, the beaches and dunes are gone.  A floating house knocked out a local bridge.  Family and friends are without electricity, which means also heat, along with 95% of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.  So many familiar roads are now 4 feet under water.  An iconic restaurant stands destroyed.  Helicopters rescue people who did not evacuate in time.  Half of a local amusement pier was ripped off.  Cars floated down streets, trees are downed everywhere, and the state along the Shore has effectively shut down.  Governor Christie cancelled Halloween, and the President will visit this afternoon.  Lower Manhattan is also flooded, filling the subway tunnels and the unfinished World Trade Center plaza with seawater.  Some areas of the business district are 13 feet under water.  It is estimated that up to 5 million people are without electricity, with no hope of it being restored within 7 days.  People are trapped in their workplaces, and a friend travels from friend to friend, trying to find a working power outlet and food.  Thousands wait at gas stations, to purchase fuel for their generators.  Train tracks along the Northeast Corridor were washed away, and train cars were pushed onto a major highway, which is also closed.  Harbors were destroyed to the point where they are unrecognizable, a favorite park is now a military emergency command center, and there are billions of dollars worth of damage.  Unreal.  It is unreal that, within the course of a day, one of the most beautiful locations along the East Coast, my childhood home, can be turned overnight into what looks like a devastated war zone.

Having the same the indomitable spirit and Shore pride as the residents who live along the battered coast, I know that the challenge of rebuilding and restoring life to as it was will be a task assumed with enthusiastic effort, fortitude, and great strength.  God Bless the Jersey Shore.

 From the Shore's native son, the Boss: