Hurricane Sandy!

     Hurricane Sandy was a tropical cyclone that devastated many parts of the Caribbean, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern parts of the United States. On October 28th 2012, New York City began to feel the wrath of this storm as it entered the city.
   When I lost power in my building where I live I expected it could happen as I live close to the water. I also lost water in my building. I prepared myself freezing my milk and juice and other items as well as buying canned goods because I don't even keep canned goods in my cabinets just because I prefer not to eat them. But canned goods have a place in everyone's homes for storms like this one. After the storm left its trail of destruction I had no water and no electricity. I had a battery operated radio as my only connection to what was going on outside of the NYC blackout. My baby son had enough milk for two days but by Tuesday I knew I needed to find more for the next day.
    I had to walk down 23 flights of stairs in the dark, which I did with ease as I looked outside with my wife and son for something and found nothing. I walked my Wife and son safely up 23 flights knowing I would have to go back out to find milk and a couple more items. Many elderly people were in the building who had trouble getting about. More surprisingly were younger people who had trouble climbing those stairs without taking a break or gasping for air.
    I walked from around Chambers Street to 58th street looking not just for anything but specific food items one being milk like Horizons Organic Milk that is sold in single serve containers. This milk is shelf stable meaning it will not go bad if not refrigerated. I must have made eight different stops at deli's mostly till I found a supermarket open. And I found the milk eventually as well as other food items. And I made it back home the same way I came and up 23 flights of stairs again. Now you may be thinking to yourself, well why didn't you take a taxi? Well I had $10 dollars to my name and had to find a bank because $10 dollars may only get me to 14th street. I thought of everything except extra pocket cash, learned my lesson. I found a bank first and went hunting for what my family would need. Now what in the world does this have to do with martial arts?
    I tell my little story not to complain, but because I had too and it was okay for me. My body could handle it because I stay active. And I attribute my active lifestyle greatly to kung-Fu and the training. Some would say big deal you are crazy for doing all that, others say they can do it. Well fine! Yet I thank God I have the ability to do that because in life many things can happen and sometimes you can only prepare so much. And I saw once again how important it is to have your health at such times. And it was a time that I was grateful that my family didn’t get hurt and proud of my years of hard work and training. Thanks to Kung-Fu I could walk to the Bronx if I had too. And an important part of Kung-Fu is longevity. It Saved me at least $40 dollars on transportation. I lost around $80 dollars in spoiled food, which becomes an added expense anyway. And I wouldn’t think twice about the walk because my body could handle it when pushed to what some would consider extreme limits.