Hurricane day thoughts

As I type this on my back porch, I turn around to a lake that used to be our backyard. Wow! The last time it rained this hard …

Well, now that I mention it, of course I’m going to bore you with some weather statistics. OK. The last time it rained this hard … it was October 8, 2005. How do I know this? Two reasons: 1. I am a clearly established weather geek. 2. I am a proud father with a long memory.

That date is exactly two days after our youngest child, James, was born nearly six years ago (birthday: October 6, 2005). We brought him home from the hospital that soggy October 8 day, six years ago. The pictures are hilarious as we are darting in the house with the little baby in his little car-seat carrier thing, while I’m trying to keep everyone dry with a big umbrella rendered useless blowing in the wind.

On that date, it rained 7.57 inches, as the remnants of Hurricane Tammy blew through our area. For those keeping score at home, that’s about the same amount of rain you should get in a normal span of TWO MONTHS. We got that in one day. In fact, that month (October 2005), it rained more than 20 inches in this area. Ask the four sump pumps in my basement. They remember.

On Friday, October 7, 2005 -- the day after James was born -- a relatively unknown freshman out of Section 9 school Red Hook shocked the Metropolitan Conference by winning the annual cross country championship at Van Cortlandt Park. For obvious reasons, I was not there to see our own David Raucci win the Mets on that day, but it was memorable nonetheless.

Other random hurricane thoughts:

--Early in my coaching career – either 1991 or 1992, I am too lazy to look it up – we participated in the CTC Championships at Van Cortlandt Park, which was in the process of being flooded by Hurricane Bob. All I remember from that day is getting very, very wet, and the times being very, very slow.
--At least our program was able to get everything accomplished that we wanted during our preseason week: Workouts, time trial for the ladies at the Vassar track yesterday (all reports were that it went well), long run, a couple of Minnewaska trips … So if today proves to be a washout in terms of training, so be it.
--Looking on the bright side as what is left of my vegetable garden gets inundated (too bad I did not plant rice?), this coming week’s weather is looking rather nice. So that is good.
--Of course, we are hosting a fancy cross country meet at Bowdoin Park in six days. Heaven knows what the course – especially the Hilltop Loop – will look like after all this rain and wind. All I know is this: If there is a humanly possible way for that course to be ready and runnable by Saturday morning, Coach Terry Horton will get it done.
--In the meantime, try to stay dry, hope for no loss of power, and cue up The Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane” …