When you live down by the shore, rogue tides, strong winds heavy rains and snows and you are without power for days sometimes weeks. You learn to navigate your home in the dark and always keep items in specific places so you can find them.

Disasters bring out the best in people or the worst. Neighbor would not share a lick of emergency power. Used to watch everybody’s long faces. I fixed his a**. Brought a large generator told my neighbors “plug in” . They buy the fuel. Wildlife begin to starve because they can’t get food from under deep snow . I keep bags of puppy chow in the garage just for that reason.

Upside I travel 4 minutes East and I get to see the sea everyday. To watch the sea in a heavy snow storm unbelievably beautiful. Or watch the surf after a storm ....no wave breaks the same way. Or a full moon night. I walk four blocks down to abandoned side street and I can explore the ruins of an assembly hangar where the first seaplanes were made for the Navy or I can speak with Halsey’s family if I travel three towns south.

I can’t change the environment but I can change how I react to it. I had to learn that. During Sandy I sat and whined. After Sandy I learned to adapt and do.

You are right about building code down there. I lived and worked in Texas. Flat as a pancake but the people, the best in the world. Easy going, unpretentious and go the extra mile for a friend just don’t piss them off. Great food and hot women and everybody loves the “only sport” football. You are a lucky man. You may not think that now but this will pass and knowing Texans they will do something to put it to right.