Hurricane Sandy knocked out power to my neighborhood about 2 p.m. yesterday, and it is still not on 20 hours later. Around 3 p.m. a gust of wind picked up my vinyl carport and blew it across the yard. Isaac and I wrestled it to an area where it couldn't do much damage and tied to to a tree. The carport was already damaged, so I think this was the final injury. I plan to dismantle it and just take the parts to the dump. The structure simply was not strong enough to withstand a hurricane.
I am at Starbucks in Mashpee Commons, where there is power, wi-fi, and hot drinks. I got my favorite: a vente soy chai tea latte. Most of the 20-or-so people here are typing on laptops or cell phones. One of my students recently wrote an essay about how the new coffeehouses of the 21st century are like the Colonial coffeehouses of the 18th century. Now we read the news on the Internet and share our views on blogs or social media. Back then we read the news on the emerging new medium of newspapers and shared our views in person or through pamphlets and broadsides.
SABBATICAL THOUGHT: My book about mindfulness of the mass media could have a chapter exploring that concept.
The woman across from me is sipping a cold drink and staring at her iPhone. The man to her right is typing on a small apple laptop. He is wearing headphones. Across from him, to my left, a man has a large hot drink and is typing on a 17-inch hp laptop like mine. He also has a small tablet e-reader set up on a stand next to his computer. To my right two women are facing each other and eating scones. Neither of them has any electronic devices in sight, but they are not talking to each other.
OK, I am going to grade papers now.
10 p.m.: The power was restored about 3:30 this afternoon. When I returned form my drumming circle around 9:30, my room was ablaze with lights I had not realized were turned on.
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