Well, Irene petered out into a tropical storm, and though she did lots of damage to cities around NYC, we were mostly spared her wrath. This morning, we woke expecting wind and rain to be lashing our windows. Instead, most of the storm had blown over in the night and by midday, things were looking pretty good in our neighborhood. We ventured out with our fellow Manhattanites to survey the damage, grab a cup of coffee and breathe (relatively) fresh air. I love the smell of after-a-storm. The air is wet. You can smell the leaves and the dirt and not the trash. Even in the middle of the city, there is a damp freshness (I realize that sounds paradoxical.) But as we explored our neighborhood, we saw many traces of safeguards not needed. Better that way than the reverse...
