Vanity Fair’s Man In Manhattan Cheers For Human Destroying Hurricanes: Irene And Me (With Cats)
HURRICANE Irene is heading for New York! A child has been killed by falling tree in Virginia. James Wolcott writes for Vanity Fair. In 2004, he was in Manhattan cheering for Gaia as she pounded a land mass miles away from his opinion base:
“I root for hurricanes. When, courtesy of the Weather Channel, I see one forming in the ocean off the coast of Africa, I find myself longing for it to become big and strong–Mother Nature’s fist of fury, Gaia’s stern rebuke. Considering the havoc mankind has wreaked upon nature with deforesting, stripmining, and the destruction of animal habitat, it only seems fair that nature get some of its own back and teach us that there are forces greater than our own.”
G, Hurricane – smash Africa to pieces! Yayyy!
In 2005, James Wolcott spotted the joy of vengeful hurricanes in his own country.Many dead. Lives ruined. And Walcott sit in Manhattan and sets up league table of destruction:
Hurricane Katrina has broken the post 9/11 spell that held everyone in thrall to terrorism and terrorism alone as the paramount menace on the horizon. (Compare the lyrical emoting Peggy Noonan has done since 9/11 with her dry, chapped response to Katrina.) Whatever the final numbers are from Hurricane Katrina, it will be harder for the WOT [War on Terror] propagandists to ritualistically invoke the “3000 dead” to the same sonorous effect. Those deaths have reached their expiration date, not for mourning, but for political, cultural, and military exploitation. Here we are coming up to the 4th anniversary of that horrible day, and Ground Zero still lacks a memorial or even a palatable design, Osama Bin Laden is unapprehended, Iraq is a vale of tears, and a dorky “Freedom March” is being staged in Washington. One can only hope that the dead of New Orleans receive a more decent and deserving memorialization than the dead of 9/11 have gotten.
It’s 2011 and Hurricane Irene is approaching New Jersey and other places closer to chez Walcott. It’s heading for New York. That’s where Wolcott writes on the joys of destruction by hurricane. Wolcott’s holidaying on the New Jersey shore:
We were inclined to ride it out where we were, despite the mandatory evacuation notice, and see what a major storm was like on our adopted square of the Jersey shore. But we also had the cats to consider, and they might not have been as fully onboard with this Horatio Hornblower spirit of adventure. Cats prefer their living conditions to be on the quiet, subdued side, the Romantic excitement of howling winds and torn limbs flying past rain-lashed windows somewhat lost on them…
So, having arrived on Thursday evening, we packed up this morning and joined the Dunkirk exodus out of southern Jersey, the spirit of stoic heroism and resolve pervading the Dunkin’ Donuts with their abnormally long lines of customers and the rest stops on the Garden State Parkway going north, where some weary travelers bonded over a warm Cinnabon, which is easy to do, since they’re so sticky.
Gaia, the victims, global warming and the war on terror can wait. We have cats – and donuts, people!
Back in New York:
I wish she [Slow Love Life’s Dominique Browning] was in New York, then she could come stay with me, Laura, and the cats and we could watch back episodes of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, drink “can wine,” and make s’mores. Though I suppose that’s not the healthiest snack combo either, but in an existential crisis certain liberties must be allowed.
Meanwhile, Anorak’s man in Africa writes:
“I root for hurricanes.
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Posted: 28th, August 2011 | In: Key Posts Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
