I didn’t think I’d ever write again. My strong feelings of homelessness, loss andsome bitterness closed me. However, my sense of competition awakened when the wonderful village library where I am now living in California offered a contest. Thatinspired meto write aboutmy experiences in Superstorm Sandy.

More than a year ago I lived on an island seven miles out to sea. Two great bodies of water, ocean and bay, were one block away, and I had a bird sanctuary in my back yard.