It was weird. Last night, when the power flicked on at about 10:40 pm, my mood fell. I kind of felt like I didn't want it to end. My husband and I were involved in a game of chess and poking insults at each other, then dissolving in laughter. (I can't tell who won because I dumped the board when the lights came on.) This morning he's still asking me who I think would've one – he was obviously in better shape than I with his black knights.
Wasn't it weird that I was sad our camping weekend was coming to a close? I thought about this all day today and then remembered how all we did was laugh til our stomachs hurt over our own antics for three days. For instance:
On day one we hooked up the generator and had heat, microwave, coffee, etc – and I ran around gathering every candle I had in the house and had ten scents going at one time. Then on day two, I was worried I was going to run out of candles when I discovered I had electric ones in every window – uh…why not just plug those into the generator? Finally, we laughed the hardest on day three when my husband came out of the computer room with a lamp, promptly plugged it in and lit the whole kitchen and family room. We just sat there and laughed and laughed til our sides hurt.
And so it went throughout the weekend. We had more fun figuring this thing out and coming up with better ways to do everything from cooking to watching TV on the iPad. We ran wires and held flashlights for each other. We went outside and snow blowed and shoveled our yard and those of the neighbors. We solved the gas problem and rode around town surveying the damage. We walked the beach and took funny pics to send our kids depicting inside jokes. We sat together all afternoon on Sunday with cool jazz playing on the iPad, while I read a great book and he played on YouTube. We napped with the afternoon sun streaming in and then cooked great food. We entered into our rousing chess game after dinner, and, all too soon, poof! The power came on and we were swung back into reality. My first thought wasn't "thank God", but awww….
It was a huge blizzard. We were without power for three days. And yet….I felt bad it was ending. Maybe it wasn't weird to feel that way. Times of trouble and crisis draw us closer together and teach us things that can't be learned when immersed in our normal routines. I used to shun trouble and try to fix it or sweep it under the rug as quickly as possible so I could get on with life. I don't do that anymore. I stop and look at the obstacle, stay open and ready to receive what it has to give me. This blizzard gave me a lot. A lot of laughs, a lot of love, a lot of good conversation, a lot of good food, a lot of camaraderie, – in other words – a lot of the good stuff life has to offer – even in difficult times.
And so, as another day goes by, go through the trials and troubles side by side with your loved ones. You will all be better off for it. And….I have written.
Photo: My husband took this to send to the girls saying – "NOW she wants to go paddle boarding! If she's not here next weekend…..) Lol! (We had paddle board issues with me all summer) 🙂
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