i've been thinking a lot about being prepared.

in some ways, new york city rivals the girl/boy scouts when it comes to preparedness. the instant the sky turns from clouded over to spluttering drops, guys appear on every corner selling cheap umbrellas for a dollar or two. you can hear them calling "umbrella! umbrella!" as you exit the subways. (oddly enough, i rarely carry an umbrella, but i have yet to buy one from these vendors, no matter how hard it's raining)

after 9/11, when i was happily living in grand rapids, i was relieved that i lived in a city that no one would want to attack (not that it isn't a lovely city! really!! don't hurt me!!!). that is, unfortunately, no longer the case. i was talking to mike yesterday about what we should do in case of disaster. (don't read this, mom). the good news is that neither of us is in manhattan during the day so we figured that mike should stay in jersey and i would try to find him.

it's not a perfect plan, but it's the best we could come up with.

in the end, there is only so much we can do (like stocking up on bottled water). they say that luck favors the prepared, but, really, for some things there is just no preparing.

umbrella, anyone?