Few questions could start a conversation with a stranger with more immediacy last week than "Where were you during the earthquake?" Whether in the subway or by the standing room only counters, chatting up the food vendors, or waiting in line for the bathroom, everyone at the game had a story to tell. Admittedly, the most interesting were from people on higher floors in Center City. In fact, a friend who I saw the next day, was evacuated from the 40th floor of the Comcast building, He definitely got the win.
I did feel the rumble in my first floor office, wondering if the students in the classroom next door were having a wild party. All the staff converged in the main teachers' room uncertain about what had just happened. And though the earthquake had lasted only a few seconds, it was as if we had experienced a devastating event. No books came off of shelves, no glasses crashed onto the floors. Still, an earthquake in Philadelphia? enough to keep us talking and even a bit anxious for the rest of the day.
Then just to keep us 'awake alert alive enthusiastic' (thanks to my brother Marc for that delightful ditty), along comes Hurricane Irene with enough rain to wash out a few games, and to bring flooding to areas in the Delaware Valley.
Games postponed, roofs unhinged, creeks arisin' and the rain kept coming. Even Cliff Lee couldn't pitch his way out of such a storm.
