Sept. 14, 2011 (ShapeShiftas.com) -- On the Saturday of Irene, I posted a picture of this pillow, called The Eye of the Hurricane, on the ShapeShiftas' Facebook page, with the caption, "This one's for you, Irene." I didn't mean to be irreverant, and I hope it wasn't me who angered the water gods. By Sunday night, flash flooding had devastated Vermont, destroying roads, homes & bridges, including our little piece of paradise, Stony Brook Road. Our town, Stockbridge, is one of 13 towns that were isolated - no way in or out - for several days. We be livin' in de Islands now, mon. On that Saturday, the news was all about evacuations in New York & New Jersey. Friends were heading for high ground and stocking up on supplies, probably breaking out those disaster kits you were supposed to have after 9/11. We thought my brother's place in Ocean City might not make it through the storm. The nightmare scenario we'd always imagined could occur in New York City looked like it might be happening. We left New York to avoid disaster, one like Irene could have been. We thought we'd be safe from climate change events and rising sea waters in the beautiful Vermont Green Mountains. We endured 9/11 in Manhattan and figured we'd got out of the city just in time. Who would ever think a hurricane could hit here? My friend Biv, who still lives in the town I grew up in, said, "9/11 - Irene - I'm sure glad you didn't move back to Akron." (I'm sure you'll hear more Biv witticisms if you follow this blog.) So I'm sitting in the kitchen of a borrowed house, with very limited access to my house and studio, trying to come up with a way to keep the pillow biz happening while coping with 1 car, 2 girls in different schools, and 2-3 times more driving time necessary to get anywhere. I can't stuff any pillows or get to my sales samples. I can't receive fabric or ship orders. My books and files are in the studio. But - I have internet here at the Red (I'll buy it!) House, and so I am getting to some things I've been meaning to do for a while. Work on my website and start this blog. Working on the website is always torture for me, especially with the slower satellite connection I have in my studio. They have DSL here at the Red House, luckies, the evil Fair Point Communications only extended cable to the bottom 1/3 of Stony Brook Road. (The second third of this road, where our property is, is gone now, the top third cut off.) I will have to explain more about the perfidy of Fair Point in another blog entry or 10... Anyway - welcome to Pillow Talk, my blog. (Isn't that a great name, thanks, honey!) I'm hoping to post a couple times a week, so stay tuned! I don't know if anyone will want to read this, but I certainly have a lot to say about things (not just pillows!), so I'll put it out there & see what happens. Peace, Deborah Visit ShapeShiftas.com |