I thought I would share my view of Sandy in the days before and after in pictures:

The day before the storm I took my Grandmother for our last meal at the fancy local Perkins.  Little did I know we should have eaten enough for a week.

When I got home I started some home prep of the essentials:  candles, Kindle, iPad and the wine opener.  Who knew none of this would matter or work through 14 days of no power.

Then I took a ride through Spring Lake and Belmar to check out the waves and high tide 24 hours before the storm.  It was nothing I had seen before.  The ocean at the Belmar Inlet was creeping up on the bridge.

It also didn’t hurt that the local bakery had everything 50% off!

In the next 24 hours I have never been so frightened of a natural disaster in my life.  The winds were unbelievable.  We were sitting in the kitchen with a window behind me.  I was so scared that I ran into the family room with smaller windows.  It sounded like trees were falling around us.  I downloaded a police scanner to listen:

Covers of the Asbury Park Press (now that I think about it.  How did they go to press without power?!)

And then pics started coming out online. The street lined with trees and what looks like a river was my old street:  5th Avenue in Belmar.

We had no food, no power, no heat but we were lucky enough to have a roof over our heads unlike many other people in our area.  We took a road trip to West Chester, PA to stay with family for a warm shower and hot meals.

My stepdad was able to purchase a generator at Home Depot in PA which powered a few lights, a space heater and a radio.  On Friday night we listened to a telethon on the radio to raise money for those in need as we drank wine and played LCR.

I’m very lucky compared to many others who are still without their homes.