Tornado in New York

There's a whole host of reasons why I have the unnecessary angst when I hear of the slightest weather advisory. I was only ten years of age but old enough to run errands only adults were entrusted to do.

My grandmother was ill and I was tasked to buy the prescribed medicines from a pharmacy out of town, a half hour ride from home. My mother escorted me to the bus stop and left me to the care of the driver who was instructed to drop me off at the drugstore closest to the bus depot at the capital. I didn't have any problem with that.

I took the same bus returning home but it was pouring rain when I got back. Halfway thru the few blocks walk to our house, it thundered then a bolt of lightning struck a few feet in front of me. Lightning snapped and lit the sky like fourth of July. Extremely terrified, I ran for my life in the nearest shelter which is the ice house where they store giant blocks of ice in mounds of rice hulls. The owners took me in. As soon as the storm subsided, they sent for my mother to fetch me.

It was a narrow escape, a terrifying experience which changed my life forever. From then on I would hide inside a rolled up banig - a woven straw sleeping mat, during the thunderstorms in the country. I'd come out of my hiding sweating bullets when the storm was over.

To this day I still pull down the shades to protect me from the lightning when it strikes. With no cellar to escape into, I take refuge in the darkness of my room and pitifully under the covers. I don't know how to break free of this fear. It would make for a challenging case for a head shrink, wouldn't it? Nah, I can handle this myself. After all, this is New York, no nasty storms such as the violent ones that hit the Philippines occur here. I was wrong.

September 16, 2010

I caught a glimpse of the weather report earlier today but none of it really hit me as treacherous. Around 5:00 pm, the skies turned gray and rain started to fall. Halfway thru her drive to Brooklyn, Chong phoned me that lightning just flashed thru the pitch black sky above her. Almost instantly here in Queens we were wrapped in the same dark clouds, strong winds and lightning while hailstones pelted the roof.

I ran upstairs to bring Tita Lumen down and as we walked down the steps strong winds shook the place and blew off the roof hatch cover directly above us. Then I heard a loud roaring sound. Everything unfolded in no time. I looked out into the courtyard. The trees were decimated. My senses told me it was a twister. It's hard to believe, not in New York.

Scary. It's that lightning experience from my childhood all over again but a lot worse! A devastating three or four minutes of the tornado and then it was a sudden calm. The neighbors came out to check on one another and to survey the damage. It was like a war zone. 50-year old trees were uprooted, roof covers and shingles were blown blocks away. Mature trees have landed on cars and buildings.

It was a scene straight out of a disaster movie. Quiet after the storm and desolate as a ghost town. The roads were blocked by fallen trees and debris. In a matter of minutes, sirens were going as private citizens helped to direct the rush hour traffic as drivers inched their way home, weaving in and out of road blocks. It was a miracle that only one person died and no one else injured.

We will soon learn that two tornadoes and a macroburst tore a 14-mile long path of destruction in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens. At 125 mph the wind gust we experienced was mild compared to what the folks in the Midwest had to endure during these violent tornadoes.

For days after I drafted this post sounds of chain saws and wood chippers filled the air. All over the neighborhood homeowners spent countless hours hammering and nailing stripped sidings, replacing roof covers, grinding stumps and rebuilding.

Even the birds were confused. They've lost their trees. I found many of them perched in bushes and on fallen tree limbs some maybe hoping to find their nests and their birdlings.

It was disheartening. And the fear is still there.
But we're all safe. The damages will be fixed and the trees will be replaced.

Bird songs at dawn, I'll soon hear them.

There's only one Big Apple

Not that I'm a huge fan of the Mets, but I'd be a fool to pass up a chance to watch a game when the stadium is just a stone's throw away and the $80 tickets are free! How did I get so lucky? I got friends with connections.

Let's cut to the chase - it's the Mets vs. the Phillies. I 've no idea who the Phillies are, I can only tell them apart from the Mets by the color of their jerseys. Thanks to our friend Ces who used to be a die-hard Mets fan, I learned a few things today. First, that when a player on the Mets team hits a home run at Citi Field, the giant fiberglass apple rises from a 16-foot black top hat over the centerfield wall. And I thought the shiny red apple is just a New York fixture. Apparently this is a big deal to the fans. A petition was even signed in the fight to have the sweet home-run fruit moved to its new home at Citi Field after Shea was torn down.

Second, Ces said that the orange poles in the ball field are what they call foul poles. I knew that, but what I didn't know is that the term foul pole is a misnomer since they are in fair territory. Any batted ball that strikes the pole or its attached netting is a fair ball and is ruled a home run, and so forth and so on. I was totally confused I tuned her out after the first rule. So much for Foul 101 all I care about is for the home team to win.


The choices of eats are endless, the longest lines being at the Shake Shack concessions. We decided to join the crowd of carnivorous youngsters and some elders too who I suspect like us are doing this out of curiosity.

But what a shock, the beverage list includes Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. Holy cannoli, am I at the stadium? It turns out their burgers are overrated and don't measure up to the new kid on the block - Five Guys which has great burgers and perfect fries - Obama's pick.

So we took our seats section 139 near the left field and sat thru the third inning at which point the Mets hit a homer. The ceremonial red apple to my left rose out of hiding and the fans went nuts. And then there was the sounds of cow bells, more cow bells. Well, it's not the home run that gets the fans out of their seats - it's the apple! How weird New Yorkers are.

Bored and not quite pleased with our view (believe me we'd rather watch from the bleachers), we ventured and walked around the concourse and up to the Club level. Yup, I said Club, as in exclusive-to-fans-with-premium-seats lounge. We checked out the Promenade but stayed the rest of the game at the Caesar's Club lounging and watching from the big screens. The view from up there was stunning. The giant screen showing the ongoing match at the nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium was clearly visible. It's the men's finals too at the US Open.

After the home run there was little to cheer about but we stayed till finish. As usual the Mets scored lots of runs early, held the lead for some time then lost. What else is new, it ultimately ends in bitter disappointment.

But we can't turn our backs on them, we love New York, the Mets and its apple. We love it to its core.

One home run - it's the most work the poor red apple did today. And it was worth watching.

Two hands better than one

It's a one man show and a mix of choreography and visual art installation performed live.

Tony Orrico is an accomplished dancer and visual artist who performed the exceptional feat of drawing symmetrical mesh of fine lines on canvas for four hours, three days in a row while standing against the lobby wall of the Dance Workshop Theatre. His back to the audience, with a black pen in each hand he traced an evolving circumference. His arms outstretched on each side in the likeness of Leonardo's classic Vitruvian Man, he drew lines in shades of gray and black symmetrically from the center to form what might be two halves of a brain on a giant canvas.

It is a work of art and a feat of endurance. Part of a series of his drawings called Penwald Drawings this one is entitled Penwald 4: Unison Symmetry Standing.

It's not the same as being there live and watching, but here it is for us to experience.

Watch the livestream of Penwald 4 Unison Symmetry Standing.

Sails and artillery

I'm no sailor by any stretch of the imagination but I felt I had to be there. The TASCAns invited me to their annual picnic by the Lake once again which is a sad reminder that we are nearing the conclusion of the outdoor life here in the East as the Labor Day weekend arrives.

A chain link fence encloses the makeshift boathouse on the other side of the Meadow Lake as the old one is being renovated and won't be open for two years. All of the Club activities and classes still proceed as if nothing is happening and of course that includes the yearly Labor Day blast.


Talk about a dull life, the pot luck lunch is the highlight of my day at the Lake. I safely secured or so I thought, save for those mosquitoes and whatever crawlies there were, a place under the shade for my chair and a book to read. I was hoping that after my fill of barbecued chicken, salad and an assortment of desserts, I could just kick back, relax and enjoy the tranquility of the park. Not so. Two pages into the book and I was so totally distracted by the passers-by.


From cotton candy and kite peddling to quadri-cycling, or simply wandering shirtless in the park, everyone seems to be expending some energy except me. If aging is in your mind, you're so on target. Sometimes I just like to sit around and take it all in.

After dock mastering for a good half hour Marsha and Maria decided to sail. These two have become masters at abandoning their nautical duties with the Club and why not? They too are entitled to have some fun at the high seas (they wish). Yeah sail fast, downwind at twenty knots while I stood behind just people watching.

I'm a glaring contrast to my friends. The extent of my athleticism is pointing at a subject and pressing the shutter button to take some blurry shots and my idea of hiking is grabbing some food as I circle the picnic table. So what do I know about knots? Nothing, except maybe to untangle them? I happen to know a thing or two about weeding or pruning if that counts as a competitive, skillful and entertaining physical activity to you.

The Labor Day festival was capped off with a 7-gun salute that was fired from a yachting cannon. So real, it casted a haze of gun smokes on the dock. Although the picture might suggest otherwise. Sorry Walter, from my vantage point all I could take was your behind.

Walter's toy, a 16-inch reproduction of the Herreshoff Saluting Cannon, boomed out the 7-gun salute. It's made of bronze, rides on a teak carriage, loads and fires 10 gauge blanks. Loud it was that I was told to wear earmuffs as I get closer to the dock. The Russian picnickers were spooked out while Walter's baby twins just slept thru the ritual. It was fun.

Now let's examine this picture more deeply.

Piracy on the high seas! It looks like there's some serious and stern reprimanding going on here. Hey Petra Pan, it's not like there's some crocodiles that got a taste of Hook here that will resurface from this murky lake.

Back off Barbara. No one dies of excessive joie de vivre which Walter possesses. It's a toy for heaven's sake. Who cares if the Russians complained to you about the noise? They were pissed, so what. The cops knew about the gun-firing and if these people can't take a little bit of noise let them go ahead and rally their troops.

Hey Walter, you should've taken Maria's challenge to fire a 21-gun salute instead! That would've been a blast.

Newton's bronze

While Fashion Week is in full swing at its new venue at the Lincoln Center, there is an even greater show going on at the Shelter Rock Art Gallery. The following are sculptures by one of Chong's students in sailing class, Mark Newton. Twenty of these pieces are on display at the gallery.

These works define a prolific artist such as Mark.

Awesome. How else can I describe them?

Convocation IV

Convocation III

Sail

Lovers

Fluid Plurality

(welded steel)

Devotion

What a perfect backdrop - the grounds of the church

Devotion
Mark's Bronze Statement

The Social Hall of the Unitarian Universalist Church where the gallery is housed at Shelter Rock

A view from the outside

Picture windows

Hues of bright orange peeking through the glass blend with the dark green frames and the ivy climbing on the stone walls

Models twirling and looking phenomenal are definitely no match for Mark's sculpture.

Convocation IV retails at $15,000. Wow!

I first encountered his work , another bronze piece entitled Torso, at the Water Mill Museum near the Hamptons last year.