Disaster!

I am obsessed with books about disasters. This began in college when I first read Holocaust! The shocking story of the Boston Cocoanut Grove fire. It's out of print now, but one can get it at the library. Here's a nice summary of the fire.

Here is where I give my very good friend Robin the credit for my love of disaster narratives. She introed me to the Cocoanut Grove book in 1993 or thereabouts. She just recently loaned me her copy of Holocaust so I could re-read it. It was great the second time too. There are fire codes and laws that were changed nation-wide because of that fire.

Then there's Dark Tide, which I became obsessed with when it came out in paperback in 2004. I read it in only a couple of days. I had heard my whole life about the great molasses flood in Boston, believing the rumors when I was small that on hot days, you could still smell molasses on the streets in the North End. The book read like a novel and again, building and engineering codes and laws changed nation-wide because of this disaster.

I met the author of Dark Tide, Stephen Puleo at a book signing and then convinced my workplace to use it as the text for an ethics class. I have passed it on to more people than perhaps any other book I've ever read.

When I was travelling in Belize last September, I read Anita Shreve's A Wedding in December, which has a story-within-a-story set during the Halifax Explosion. I was fascinated, but didn't really take the time to look up info about that disaster. Then, I visited Robin a couple weeks ago, and told her I was headed to Nova Scotia for vacation this fall. She had been recently, and of course, has a Halifax Explosion book. This one is called Too Many to Mourn, and uses one family to tell the story of the explosion. There were 66 members of the Jackson family living in the Richmond area of Halifax at the time of the explosion, and 46 of them were killed. The son of one of the surviving women wrote the book. It was excellent. This disaster is the reason that Halifax has such a great relationship with Boston and Massachusetts since we sent so many doctors, nurses and supplies to their rescue. That giant Christmas tree we get every year for the Pru comes from the people of Halifax to the people of Boston. Pretty cool tradition, considering we're coming up on almost 100 years.

All of these disasters took place in the first half of the 20th century. The impact they had on history is clear. The books were written in a narrative form that takes the reader back to meet those who were there during the disaster, which I love.

I also read Boston on Fire not too long ago, which is a compilation of most of the major Boston fires, each getting a shorter writing. Boston has had more major fires than any other U.S. city (probably because we've been around longer). Stephanie Schorow does a nice job with this book too.

Of course, I've read the requisite Into Thin Air, Alive, and Into the Wild. But those aren't really disasters. They are human endeavors gone wrong. Well, okay, Alive was just a plane crash, but it's more of a survival story.

I have to be really careful after I read one of these books to not go on and on about the details of the event to friends, family and strangers, even. I'm a massive dork, and I have to try to remember to keep it in check. Mostly, I fail, thinking, "Who wouldn't want to know about this? It's amazing!" The answer is: most people. Most people just don't care about this kind of stuff.

I'm sad for them, actually.

UPDATE: How could I forget Endurance, the story of Shackleford and Antartica? A bunch of explorer dudes all got stuck in the ice floes on a ship. The ship ends up torn to pieces and they have to walk out of there. Amazing book. And Ship of Gold? How could I forget that? I passed that book out to all my diver friends in Thailand. One copy ended up more ratty and dogeared than any book I've ever owned. A ship full of gold was sailing from San Fran around the bottom of South America (pre-Panama Canal) to NYC and sank off the coast of North Carolina in the 1850s during the gold rush. They found her in the 1980s. More here. Anyway, thanks again to Robin who remembered that I passed these both to her.

Oh, yeah

Saw this today on the bumper of the car in front of me. Practically got killed taking the photo.

The Great Pedometer Challenge

Last year sometime, I picked up a freebie pedometer as part of the JP Walks program in my 'hood. (Yet another reason to love where I live.) I used it for a few weeks, just to see if I was really walking as much as I think I do or claim I do. No such luck. Even with a 8-minute walk to the T on each end and with the regular trips for lunch and an added walk to my next appointment rather than using the T, I was still usually below the recommended 10,000 steps a day. (Which, by the way, is about 5 miles.) I can't even begin to imagine how few steps the average car-driving, desk-sitting commuter takes each day.

Anyway, using it motivated me for a bit and I had a little competition going with myself for a while. This wore off rather quickly.

Just last week, neighbor-friend Katie said, "I've been using my pedometer. I love it." She's a teacher, so she does quite well in the steps department. And, she's a teacher without a regular classroom, so she moves even more than the average teacher does. I found my pedometer that night and challenged her to a three day cumulative total competition.

It was a stupid week for me to do such a thing, considering I had to drive to work twice in those three days due to needing the car for work events. When all was said and done, I had somewhere between 22,000 and 23,000 and she righteously kicked my ass with somewhere around the 32,500 mark. I was amazed.

So, when I saw her Sunday night, after she and her partner Chris fed me an amazing black bean veggie burger, I asked for a rematch. Five days, Monday - Friday this week. She accepted. I was determined to win this time.

I got up at 6:15 on Monday morning and walked from my house to the JP Pond, around the Pond once and back to my house. Total trip? About 7500 steps, almost 4 miles. I repeated this Wednesday and Thursday morning, with different routes each day to keep things fresh. Not only did it score me a total of 22,500 steps or so, but can I just say how amazing JP is at 6:15 in the morning in May? It's quiet and fresh and everything smells delicious. The houses look shiny and the noise of the T doesn't even get annoying.

I've been making sure to walk at lunch. I went to Fanueil Hall for lunch one day and Tuesday I had an event down by Copley and I walked there from work. Extra 5000 steps!

I got an email from Katie on Wednesday lamenting the fact that she had left her pedometer at home that day. For a split second, I considered saying that we could just forget Wednesday, but then I realized I didn't want to give up my hard work. Instead I replied and said that maybe I'd actually beat her this time!

Right now it's Thursday night and I have a total of 56,443 with another whole day to go. Tomorrow, I'll definitely drag myself out of bed at 6:15 a.m. again because believe it or not, I'm looking at an apartment down the street at 6:30. That's when the dude was available and since I figured I'd be walking by anyway, why the hell not?

My original goal for myself for the 5 days was 50,000. I revised that this morning to 65,000. That means only 8600 to go tomorrow. I think I'll break that. Perhaps I'll even hit 70,000. That'd be cool. Maybe I don't even need Katie. Maybe I just need to keep up with myself this summer.

Side note: on Wednesday morning when I got up at 6:15 to leave, my roommate was already in the shower. Early for him, I think. I decided to just leave and figure out some way to pee along the way. I quickly figured out there wasn't anywhere open till 7 and that I was uncomfortable as hell. So I copped a squat behind a bush on the Southwest Corridor Park alongside the T and hoped a cop or a dog didn't come by at just that moment. They didn't, and I went along my merry way much happier afterwards. Some things never change. You can take the girl 13 years out of college, but you can't take the college pee-where-you-need-to out of the girl.

Get out and walk! Get to know your neighborhood. Look into people's back yards while they aren't looking. Smile at the cute guy who's leaving early for work in a suit. Tie your house key to your sneaker, stick your license in your pocket (or your bra) and jam to "Gin and Juice". I dare ya.

UPDATE: The final tally on Friday night was 70,545. WOO HOO!

What a difference a day makes.

Sometimes, things really do turn around. On their asses. 180 degrees. In only a moment.

I had one of those on Wednesday night, of the painful and horrifying variety. When I woke up Thursday morning, I realized the significance of it. In order to let it really sink in, and make sure I didn't miss the importance, I took the day off from work on Thursday and spent it as a day of wisdom and reflection. I let it wash over me, really felt it, and made sure I recognized its meaning. I came out the other side of Thursday's self-imposed retreat a better woman, a stronger person, and clear about where I'm standing in the world.

If I ever question the space I'm in now, I only need to remember where I was and what I was feeling and saying at noon in Salem. But I'm pretty sure I'm not going to question it. Some things just aren't in doubt.