Life gets a little complicated sometimes.
Seems to be more so for me these days than ever before.
Like the storm we had yesterday: It was rather isolated and many of our friends and relatives escaped it, but it got us –
with a vengeance!
I felt so helpless watching a fierce wind rip
out a large section of our six-foot privacy fence as if it were a twig! When
these things happen, we quickly learn a new respect for terrifying weather
conditions and a new appreciation for something we normally take for granted
like electricity. We learn the hard way, but by Jove, we learn!
The power went off at 5:15 p.m. and Mr. H.
and I sat in candlelight twiddling our thumbs for the next seven hours and
twenty minutes. Liza Jane, our cat, rather enjoyed the flickering of the candlelight
and the light from the flashlight I carried from room to room.
Even after the power came back on, at 12:40
a.m., Suddenlink didn’t. So we still had no TV, telephone or computer. But
never let it be said that I can’t find something to do at any given time.
Between 1:30 and 2:00 a.m., I cooked the meat that I was preparing to cook when
the power went off at 5:15. I was fixing Mr. H’s favorite dish, pepper steak.
After the meat was thawed, I had no choice but to cook it. But needless to say,
he’d had cheese sandwiches for dinner instead, but the pepper steak was just as
wonderful today!
My grandmother used to say, “There’s a good
reason for everything that happens if you just look for it.” I used to think
that was just wishful thinking, but, as I get older, I know what she meant. It
doesn’t exactly reach out and touch you, you have to look for it.
The good that came out of our seven and a
half hour hiatus was that Mr. H. and I actually had a conversation! Something
we rarely do.
Mr. H. is a man of few words and about the
only time I get to have a real conversation with him is when I’ve got him held
hostage in the car on a trip or when the power goes off.
We talked about many things, but what I
enjoyed most was comparing our present situation to how it must have been for
our ancestors getting up at the crack of dawn and going to bed at dark. They
worked hard all day in daylight and were tired enough to go to sleep as soon as
the sun went down. There was nothing else to do anyway with no TV or computers.
However, they did have large families in those days – and that’s all I have to
say about that!
Yes, these unexpected events teach us to be
flexible if nothing else. No point in whining over something you can’t control.
Just go with the flow, eat cold sandwiches instead of your favorite dinner,
enjoy the beauty of flickering candlelight and by all means, have a conversation!
You just might enjoy it.