What a Difference a Day Makes

Well, I am glad that is over. I am happy to report that we successfully made it through Hurricane Irene. Although our area was pretty badly hit, we personally made out very well with minimal issues. Ironically, on Friday afternoon, Ethan Zohn fired me a text message saying he was in Philly and wanted to know if I was interested in a long run on Saturday. I took a good look at the weather report and except for the possibility of some light showers, we weren’t supposed to see the effects of Irene until late Saturday and into Sunday. So, I figured …. SURE! Why not. I’m up for a run.

I met Ethan at his Center City hotel at 7:45 on Saturday morning and we headed over to Boathouse Row so I could show him one of my favorite running loops around the Art Museum. Of course we had to detour slightly to run up the famous steps and pause for a Rocky Balboa dance at the top before heading back onto the path to resume our run. (With another brief stop to touch the boot of Rocky’s statue). We resumed our run and had a typical Ethan and Steve discussion about everything from cancer to diet to endurance sports to how we can save the world to soccer to how nice Kelly Drive is to run…. And a long list of other topics.

On the return trek, of course we couldn’t pass the Art Museum without another trip up the steps, followed by a little push up and ab workout at Eakins Oval. Once done we made our way back to his hotel and I went on my way to brace myself for Hurricane Irene. Bracing myself also meant sitting at my laptop with swim goggles, swim cap, and a headlamp! I was ready!! The good news is we really did dodge a bullet. We had some minor water in the basement and we lost power for about 20 hours but all things considered, we lucked out.

And in reality, my wife and I ended up having a lot of fun with our own little hurricane party. We had a few cocktails, plenty of battery life to run the iTunes, and even danced a little! Of course I played DJ and added my own little narratives and twists with those dumb factoids like how the Classics IV morphed into The Atlanta Rhythm Section, or how Paul McCartney’s former girlfriend Jane Asher was the sister of Peter Asher, of Peter and Gordon fame and how Paul had written a number of songs for Peter and Gordon and then wrote “You Won’t See Me” when it was time to blow off Jane Asher…. you know…. rocket science stuff that the world can’t live without!

The attached pictures and video however show the very area where Ethan and I ran along Kelly Drive. Areas of that path were completely submerged by Saturday evening and into Sunday. It’s hard to believe we were running on it just hours before.

AND, today, Monday, is a day from the weather gods….. beautiful skies and 80 degrees. And the rest of the week looks like more of the same.

Check out this VIDEO.

So, goodnight Irene and I wish a speedy cleanup and recovery to those who were not as fortunate as I.