"It's a beautiful Day," Freddie Mercury's singing in a song. It is a beautiful day, indeed, here, in NYC metro area. To continue with Freddie's song, "the sun is shining." A newcomer to the area wouldn't believe that only yesterday hurricane Irene (then a tropical storm) skirted these parts of the world.

Living in highrises we're used to much stronger winds, especially during the winter. The strange thing with this hurricane was that, I kept waiting for it to come, glued to CNN and also local news, and I kept waiting for the wind to pick up... and there was nothing. Count my blessings and can't complain. Still... I couldn't tell when it got here (Hurricane Irene, I mean) and when it left.

Yes, we did have a lot of water, parts of some streets got flooded, but the wind only picked up after Irene had gone on up, on its way to New England.

But we were prepared (boy we were prepared!) especially thanks to one of the BOD members we have here, who, together with the help of some of the management and other staff, did a fantastically fabulous job--from setting the sand bangs just right in front of the entrances to organizing everything, from storing on supplies to making sure everybody in the building had their questions answered and helped offered and given, whenever necessary.

Some of the things we did in preparations for irene:

- packed up and stored away from windows all things that could break and/or electronics

- stuck up on food, water, batteries

- made sure flash lights were working, also cell phones (and camera) had fully charged batteries

- taped those windows (and we have lots of them) up, down, on the diagonal and any other direction possible; made sure everybody had enough tape to do the same

- prepared meals for staff members who stood overnight

- made sure that all residents freed their balconies of all items (that particular task took forever)

- made sure everything was stored away and safe, in the common use areas of the building

- interacted with residents/neighbors at all times

- had bags packed with necessary things for several days, just in case (thank the Skies, that was not necessary, but better safe than sorry)

By the end of the day, the only reminder that Irene had passed by was a serious increase in wind. Jersey sky became a dramatic red, while Manhattan sky turned metallic-blue.Then the wind died out, too, following Irene, I guess.

Today is a beautiful day, indeed. The sun is shining...