Saturday, June 19, 2010

calm after the storm

What a strange day we had yesterday.  It began as a typical summer day, sun shining, in the 80s and around 4:00 all hell broke loose.  The sky turned pitch black as if we were in an eclipse, the wind swirled intensely, tree limbs flew all around and I just watched and waited for Dorothy to appear.  I was on the phone with Little Man and told him to stay put and all of a sudden the line went dead and the house became still and silent.  Our power was out again.  At first I actually like this for I light all my candles and watch the storms, but after awhile a terrible memory gets triggered for we have experienced a power outage of three days and five floods in our basement.  When things settled down a bit, we took the dogs for a walk and felt a blast from the past.  So many neighbors were out and about, just sitting in their garages or huddling together to discuss the situation.  This is how is was when I grew up in the city - people were sitting outside their homes every night.  We talked to people we haven't seen for years, commenting on the ordeal.  As soon as we got home, the power went back on, so three hours is not so bad.  The thing about these incidents is we learned to appreciate things we take for granted, such as being able to have coffee in the morning, listening to the news for updates, and having fresh food in the fridge.  Fortunately, people we know did not get hurt or lose anything major.  Nature reminds us of how many blessings are bestowed on us; sometimes we need a gentle reminder to count them.
I learned a new technical tool by cropping photos.  Wayne calls it getting rid of all the guff.  Now I want to go through all my archives and enhance them.  He joined a new business social network site called linkedin.  He has been busy updating his profile and already has close to 50 connections in one day.  This is a great tool for keeping abreast of business opportunities and sharing knowledge about business stuff.  I told him welcome to my world for now he will be clicking with his buddies just as I do on facebook.  He gets a massage today as his Father's Day gift.  I give him one whenever he wants.  Spoiled.  LOL.  I had to share this pic of our babies taken prior to our trip; this way we could look at their picture when we were away.  Karen stayed here and took care of them, but we found out they were so stressed by us being gone they did not eat at all.  Margarita came by and took a nap with them and Ozis and my dear friend, Robin, came by to make sure all was well.  Thanks to them for the peace of mind while we were away. 

We stopped by my dad's and delivered his goods.  We brought brother Bo a souvenir in the form of a cool cane.  I was on a mission to find one that suits him perfectly and it was accomplished.  Wayne and I took care of mom's lilac bush that was completely out of control and needed a good chain saw trim.  She was so happy.  It is always nice to visit them. The first thing we did when we got home was work on our garden - that's my favorite thing to do and my flowers are blooming like mad.  Life is good.  xo

For most of your life you've lived at the effect of your experiences.  Now, you're invited to be the cause of them.  That is what is known as conscious living.  That is what is called walking in awareness.  Neale Donald Walsch