Senior Moments: Awaiting Hurricane Hilary, an earthquake and a bowlful of grits

I should have known when I got the urge to make grits that something was askew in the universe. When I am feeling disconcerted, my Southern roots flower and I often find myself wanting to make grits.

There’s a quality about this grainy substance that I find both comforting and sustaining. On winter mornings, I used to gulp some down in my college dining hall before sprinting across campus and I would feel armed for anything the day might bring.

Such was the case on the morning of August 20 when the rain from Hurricane (later Tropical Storm) Hilary finally made an appearance after days of anticipation by anxious Southern California residents, myself very much included.

However, I was feeling relatively calm and prepared even when I almost tripped over my disaster preparedness kit that I wrested from the closet floor. So when the need for grits called me to the kitchen, I didn’t equate it with any particular concern. Though, as I was cooking, I did notice that the rain was seriously escalating its tap dancing on the garden window.

“All we need now is an earthquake,” I said to my bowl of grits as I sat down in front of the TV. The words had barely left my lips as I turned on the news announcing we had just had an earthquake. At the same time, I was getting a “duck and cover” alert on my phone.

The one thing I hadn’t worried about had happened. Was this getting to be a pattern with me? My mind flashed back to my recent trip to Chicago when the tornado I worried about didn’t happen but something I hadn’t worried about did.

If only I had worried about a 5.1 quake descending on California in the midst of an impending hurricane, I could have made a contingency plan like I did with the crack in one of the window panes that I had worried over for months. I finally covered it with a towel and masking tape when I heard about the hurricane. Not a drop of rain seeped through my makeshift fix but I worried that it would.

It’s a lot of pressure worrying about the things I might forget to worry about.

Email [email protected]. Follow her on X @patriciabunin and PatriciaBunin.com.

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