Experience of time

Six years ago, I sat here on a hot August day with a massive Category 5 hurricane barreling down on New Orleans. Today, I worry about my East Coast friends and colleagues in the path of a massive Category 1 hurricane. The perspective gained by being on the other side of events sometimes negates my original feelings about them. Before Katrina, I wasn't worried at all. I figured we'd get some wind and rain and that would be it. If I'd known the levees would fail, I would have been more nervous. Now I'm thinking about what will happen along the Atlantic Coast, which has gotten used to storms battering the Gulf Coast and leaving it be. Will the surge drown lower Manhattan and the New Jersey shore? Will Long Island be inundated for a time? The tip of Long Island, eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island and eastern Massachusetts are on the bad side of the storm. I can't watch the TV coverage for long.

( observations about loss )