Finneran: Hurricane Hermine, Lights Out!
Friday, September 09, 2016
Our region’s little dance with Hermine put a damper on the Monday of Labor Day weekend. The seas off of Eastham and Wellfleet were really churned up and they looked awfully foreboding. No body surfing for me, at least not on Monday.
The winds on that part of the Cape peaked at 40 mph, far short of hurricane strength. Nonetheless, crowds of onlookers gathered to simply gaze at the raw power of an angry ocean. I shudder to think of that ocean scene had the winds hit 100 mph or more. Even worse, can you imagine being out at sea in the midst of such a storm. Massive cruise ships pitch and heave and even the most modern powerful warships get battered. Of course most amazing of all is the Coast Guard, whose officers are often called to rescue stranded sailors in the midst of such appalling conditions. Rescue boat personnel, helicopter pilots, and rescue swimmers actually train for such conditions and occasions. God bless their work.
After watching the surf for a while and getting blasted with beach sand, my wife and I opted for drizzly afternoon Bloody Marys and an end-of-season fried food splurge---onion rings, potato skins, whole belly clams, and scallops. Note to self---if August was any longer I could end up weighing three hundred pounds. Now it’s back to the elliptical, soon to be an hour a day.
A major disappointment was the absence of any meaningful rain. The day was already a bust due to the winds. At the very least I was hoping for two or three inches of rain..........most gardeners are very frustrated by the parched ground and it’s all very noticeable in the sad droop of trees and shrubs. Check out the levels of reservoirs and golf course ponds. They are frighteningly low. A rainy autumn and a snowy winter can recharge a lot of what’s been lost to the drought but last weekend was a great opportunity for a real soaker. It was not to be............
Thankfully the power stayed on.
Is there anything more briefly romantic than losing electricity? It’s great fun for about an hour and then the sense of horror descends. No light. Misplaced flashlights. The freezer starts to thaw. Phones cannot be recharged. Computer power begins to dwindle toward zero. No television. No movies. The water pump is dead. Ditto for the stove which requires electric ignition. How the heck did society function before electricity became the norm? No wonder whale oil made millionaires out of sea captains. That stuff was precious. So was Thomas Alva Edison. I adore him. He gave us light. Can I hear an “Amen”?
Two other post-Labor Day thoughts regarding “lights out”. In the context of sports, the phrase “lights out” signifies an outstanding performance. We’ve seen several such performances this summer, noteworthy subjects for our daily chatter.
Let’s start with the Red Sox, so often a tease to our hopes and dreams. They’re an interesting and entertaining team and they’ve been buoyed along by four “lights out” contributors—Rick Porcello, he of the 19 wins, Mookie Betts, he of the excitement at the plate and in the field, Dustin Pedroia, he of true grit, and David Ortiz, the master of drama and fastballs. They’ll make the rest of September a very interesting month.
The American women’s Olympic gymnastics team also gave us a “lights out” performance. There was joy in their work. It showed in their faces and on the bars, the beam, and the floor. They made Rio come alive. A guy named Phelps too. Well done.
The summer’s top “lights out” performer though was Serena Williams at Wimbledon. She was amazing, a joy to behold, a force of nature. She’s smart, strong, and fearless, her gifts honed by countless hours of hard work. Serena owned the world at Wimbledon.
Call her Hurricane Serena. She’s a Category Five storm at Center Court.
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