I have a lot of strong memories of 1996 as it signaled a year of big transition events for me as well. Yes, it included a milestone birthday, but it wasn't that. That was probably 3rd on the list of highlights of things I remember for that year.
What I remember second on the list was "Fran". No, that is not the name of our first-born that arrived later in the year, but my wife and I still well remember her arrival in September as the Carolina heat was still going quite strong. Think 35C and very humid and muggy.
After Fran came through, I remember not being as prepared for the aftermath as well as we probably should have been, even thought we were over 2 hours away from the coastline. We were out of power for close to a week (many others were out for even longer), and many of the roads were unpassable from fallen trees, mostly well aged pines. My wife who was entering the 7th month of pregnancy would use the car air conditioning at times to get through the hottest part of the day, and we pretty much grilled out each night as we did the best we could to save our food from perishing.
So next to our ultrasound from earlier in the year, this visual of Fran when the last time the Carolinas took a direct hit from a hurricane was a strong #2 of memories for me from that year. Many tropical storms have come after this, but this was a Category 3 hitting Cape Fear with 115mph winds and a 12 foot storm tide.
Fran's arrival:
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The hurricane dumped 16 inches of rain and the total damage in North Carolina amounted to over $2.4 billion. This was also the second hurricane to make landfall in NC that year. The first was Hurricane Bertha, which hit the state a few weeks prior. It's no wonder our NHL hockey team (currently #1 seed in the playoffs) is named the "Carolina Hurricanes". The team owner was taking a cue from those storms from the year prior when he named the franchise in its move to the area in the following year. The first Stanley Cup came 10 years later in 2006, and we're now hoping for a second, 20 years after that first one this season.
I remember vividly what I was doing that Thursday night 5 September when Fran hit too. We were thinking the storm was mostly going to be an "east of I-95 event", but by the time it made landfall, it didn't turn northeast, it pretty much traveled northwest up I-40 and came much further inland than originally predicted, right over our county.
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We were preparing for lots of rain and some wind and some likely power outages, but by the time the early morning hours of Friday arrived, the winds were much stronger than thought and we could feel the whole house shaking. We had some water intrusion on our windows facing east as the rain was pretty much traveling sideways during the worst part of the storm passing.
So besides all of that and getting through that period and especially enjoying the later birth of our daughter as #1 on my memories that year, what was important about that night that was remembered?
I distinctly remember having my FM headphones on and focusing in on a new album release in between getting storm updates after the power went out. We were trying to get to sleep too, but that mostly would turn out to be nearly impossible that night. I remember the local rock station was previewing Rush's new album
Test For Echo due out the next week that OB1 has already selected the intro title track from.
Well, as the fans of that album will know on this phrase, "it's my turn to drive".
This turned out to be another great offering from the band, and has a song that is tops on one of the best songs they have ever released. In fact, if I might be so bold, I think there's even a chance that Mancitydoogle might at least tolerate this song? I don't know, we shall see. The acoustic live version played on future tours and the multiple time signature changes make this song very special, but it is Neil Peart's opening using the hammer dulcimer that really gives it its unique sound.
The clever writing on this song is about finding the balance between compromise and holding true to one's desires. The opening line is a nod from Oscar Wilde’s ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’. The full Wilde quote is “The only way to give in to temptation is to yield to it. I can resist everything but temptation.”
When I think of that time period and all the crazy things happening 30 years ago, hearing the songs on that album from start to finish and appreciating it all, especially this track, always comes back to me.
"Resist" - Rush
You can surrender without a prayer
But never really pray, Pray without surrender
You can fight, fight without ever winning
But never ever win, win without a fight
