Tom visits Hurricane Katia
VulcanSpirit
Richard & Alison Brunstrom
Tue 13 Sep 2011 02:41
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Our son Tom came to visit us at the end of August,
en route to his new (first) job as an Engineering Geologist in New Zealand.
Unfortunately his visit coincided with the arrival in New England of Hurricane
Katia which rather spoilt the party. Here he is
in Boston with our friend Jean in truly glorious weather just before the
storm.
 He was in Boston not just as a stopover, but to get
us to pay for some presentable clothes; he even sunk to the level of wearing
training shoes with a large hole in them on the plane so that his mother would
take pity on him and buy new shoes for him too. It worked - I'd been
left behind at the boatyard tying down everything that could move and she didn't
see the con so shoes were duly purchased. Nice one Tom - but it's the last time!
Here's most of the family at Newport Harbour
in the 'hurricane' - in the event merely a violent storm, no worse than a normal
August Bank Holiday weekend in Yorkshire.
 But we did lose all power for over 24 hours because
the American infrastructure is amazingly (for a nation that regularly
experiences extreme weather) vulnerable to high winds. They carry their
electricity on poles, surrounded by trees which blow over in storms. Several
million people were still without power a week after the storm passed, so we
were lucky. Being plucky Brits we got the barbecue going at Jean & Kevin's
temporary house and cooked in the rain. Again, just like being at
home.
 And of course Tom, being Tom, took the
opportunity to go swimming in the hurricane, just so he could say that he
had.
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