Storms

It's a little hard to write about fabulous foods and wines when people in New York and New Jersey have been devastated by this superstorm called Sandy.  Guiseppe and I are fine.  One of my sisters just got back power yesterday -- and she has four children.  Now it's snowing outside as we are hit with a nor'easter!  How much more can some of these people endure?

As you have probably seen on television, homes and lives were decimated by the hurricane.  Homes were flooded and a lifetime of memories must be thrown away to avoid the mold that will surely come next.  The cold weather has set in and it's a raw kind of cold -- the cold that hits your bones.  I can only imagine what one feels like in a cold house without heat or hot water.

I saw on television that a wine shop in Brooklyn had to throw away hundreds and thousands of dollars of inventory.  Why?  Because the unopened bottles were found in the floating brown water that flooded the wine shop.  The wine was unsaleable.  While the cork closure and foil were probably fine, the owners felt it was too much of a risk to sell a questionable product.  Those wines had to be destroyed.  Tant pis -- what a pity as it is said in French, but completely understandable.  There is a small amount of exchange in a cork closure so even a small amount of penetration would be undetectable until a bottle is opened. 

We've been helping in whatever way we can -- donating items, going to fundraisers.  I'm glad the elections are over.  We can finally focus on devoting our time and efforts to helping our friends and fellow man.  Whatever we believe in, we're all human with the same needs.  Somehow, it seems we've forgotten that.

What can you do?  Donate to the Red Cross.
 

Link:
www.redcross.org