Storm Alfred, Part 2

Daybreak Sunday came all too soon, after a sleep-interrupted night. The sound of the continuous cracking and crashing of branches all around had me on edge all night. After reluctantly peeling the warm, cozy covers off, I immediately felt the cold air hit me as I went in to wake mom and Bella up. Mom's first order of business, as has been her habit lately before getting up, was to turn on the TV. Of course she was surprised when it wouldn't come on. I had to remind her we had no power. She sadly, and also quite reluctantly got out of bed. I then took Bella out into "the unknown". I didn't know what to expect when we got outside. I didn't know how many inches we had gotten and I didn't know how many fallen limbs I would see on or around our house or street. When we got outside, oh the sights we saw! It was a beautiful, bright day, with lots of sunshine. I had to make a little path for Bella from the porch to the yard as the snow was a bit too deep for her to trudge through. As we trudged off of the porch onto the driveway, and she found her place of relief, I was greeted by those same cracking, crashing sounds that had brought me concern throughout the night. As I started to look around, I couldn't help but think of how pretty all the snow-covered trees looked. One thing I did notice though, is that they were much more weighed down than I was used to seeing them. I could now clearly see that limb that came down in the backyard. I also noticed a couple of smaller branches that had also fallen in back. I shuffled through the snow so Bella and I could be nosy and check things out in front of the house and along the street. The neighbor had a couple of big limbs down in the front yard right in front of her door. Some of the wires were heavily weighed down with snow as well. At the end of the street (the only way into and out of our street), there was a huge part of a tree that was leaning on some wires and there was a wire hanging part way onto the road. And here I was thinking the cracking and crashing was simply big branches and limbs. Definitely didn't expect to see a big part of a tree like that!
After getting some pictures, Bella and I went back inside to see if mom was up and to share with her what we had seen. We had our cereal for breakfast, as cold as it was I knew the milk would still be good. Mom was also hoping to have her toast with egg. Once again I had to remind her we didn't have power, so that wasn't on the menu for the morning. After resting for a little while I needed to get the driveway and porches cleaned off. I took the cover off the car and started shoveling the driveway. The snow was pretty heavy, but I figured I would just take it easy and go slowly and carefully. Yes, we still have a snow blower, and I was pretty sure it still worked fine. I was just fearful of walking all the way back to the shed under those heavily snow-covered tree branches. Some were hanging pretty low. And...if I am going to be completely honest...I was also a little afraid of the possibility of mice scattering out of the shed all over my feet. OK, there I said it! But I think BOTH reasons were quite reasonable fears. The neighbor across the street was kind enough to go back to the shed with me. As he was taking the snow blower out he realized that the tires didn't have much air. Instead of taking the time to put air in the tires, or having me do it, he just kindly offered to use his snow blower to clean our driveway! That was a great blessing! As the day wore on and there was still no power, I realized although I had planned not to drive under that ominous-looking tree, it was going to have to happen. For one thing, I needed to charge my phone, and I could only do that in my car, BUT, my gas tank was also almost on empty, and we only had cold Chinese food in the house. I got in the car to go up the street to the gas station to get some gas and possibly grab something to eat. As I was heading out, I was shocked to be blocked on one street by a huge tree across the road. As I kept driving I was shocked by the trees and wires down all over. I got to the gas station up the street, there were a few cars there. I went to put my card in and just noticed that the screen was blank. Someone came out from the store and told me they didn't have power, so there was no getting gas from there. I drove into the center of town to see if I could get gas from the station there, but the line was unbelievable! It seemed to me by the time I found the end of the line and got in line to wait, I would have probably ended up being on empty before I got there. I kept driving. I drove into West Hartford and though there was a bit of traffic at the big intersection I was able to get into one of the stations. I did have to wait a little, but there was only one car in front of me...now granted the car just so happened to be a Cadillac Escalade, and unbeknownst to me, not only were they filling up the car, but also about 4 or 5 huge gas containers! But I was right behind them...on the property...unlike I would have been at the other station. This is pretty important information because as I got comfortably behind them waiting my turn, I saw the station manager go out to let the cars on the street know that they didn't have anymore gas. Wow, another huge blessing! As I pulled up to the pump, an older man on foot came with a gas container to the same pump and swiped his card to start to put gas in his container. Those that know me, know...I of course said nothing, though I was a little miffed. I just got out of my car and waited. The transaction didn't go through, he tried again and it still didn't work. As he went to go check with an attendant, I decided to go ahead and try my card, it was my pump anyway. I had no problem. He came back over and asked me in a cute little accent if I could help him. I tried to swipe his card and it still didn't take. Well, again, if you know me, I chose to offer to use my card so he could get the gas he needed. So, I swiped my card and it worked again. He was so thankful, he told me I could take the $40 he had. I wouldn't take the 40, but since he insisted, I told him I would just take $20. When he finished filling up the container it came out to $23. That worked out great! It also ended up being another blessing because, I don't normally have cash on me, and with the power out I couldn't go get money out. Also, some stores could only take cash for payment because of all the power problems. As I left the gas station I went across the way, thinking about possibly getting some food from Bertucci's. It looked a little busy, and then it hit me! I could go into Whole Foods where they have a great hot bar. I got some great food for mom and I. I also had to try some gelato. This would have to satisfy mom's ice cream craving for the night. I didn't even have to wait in line, paid for our wonderful dinner and dessert and headed back home...under trees and lines, and around fallen tree parts. We enjoyed some delicious food, and then later as we sat in the candlelit living room, bundled up, I brought out the Gelato. Mom enjoyed her Caramel Apple Gelato, and I enjoyed my Basil Gelato. Not long after we got into our cold beds and bundled up for another cold night. Will they try to have school Monday? If we don't have our lights back by then, I will not be leaving mom and Bella in a cold house all day. Only time would tell...
Thank you, Lord for so many neat blessings today! From protecting our house, allowing me to safely get around, get gas, help someone else, and get some delicious food and dessert. Even though we don't have power yet, I am enjoying the nights together sitting in the living room with mom and Bella, special times and memories.

Storm Alfred, Part 1

Yes, Storm Alfred was coming. Now don't get me wrong, this is New England, the issue was not a snowstorm in the fall. That's happened before, not a problem. The issue was the fact that there was the potential of several inches of wet, heavy snow that was going to be falling on trees that hadn't yet lost all of their fall leaves. All of this was also supposed to be accompanied by some strong winds as well, which was cause for a little concern. The concern was that it could bring some power lines down.
Well, as I stated in my last post, I was hoping to get to the mall for a little bit Saturday afternoon, but once the sleet started, I changed my mind. If I took longer in the mall than expected who knows what I would have come out to find as I tried to make my way back home. I'm not a fan of trying to drive on slick roads. Since I was already over by the mall, I just decided to head to the Chinese restaurant over that way so I could get my staple sweet and sour chicken. I was also looking forward to this specific restaurant so I could get some pineapple bubble tea with rainbow jelly! As I was inside waiting for my food, I checked Facebook and saw people commenting on the snow coming down with huge snow flakes. I looked out the window and there was just the same little bit of sleet. I looked out just a few minutes later and there were those big, huge snowflakes everyone was talking about. Those flakes were really starting to come down. By the time I got out to my car there was a pretty good little coating on it. I carefully drove home through the snow, enjoying the beauty of seeing it, not necessarily driving in it.

I made it home safely, got the cover put on the car, went inside to eat our delicious dinner, and then sat back to see what this storm would bring. Would it be as bad as they said? Between 4 and 5 that afternoon the lights went out. OK, maybe they were at least right about some power outages. I gathered together the candles, lighters, flashlights, batteries, and lanterns...just in case. It was starting to get dark and who knows how long the power would be out. Maybe it was somewhere around this time that my senses started to become truly heightened. As it started to get dark, I started lighting the candles on the mantle in the living room. I love the look of candlelight, especially when it's dark. Along with the beauty of the candles came the awesome smells from some of them that filled the house. As night came on and it started getting a little chillier in the house, we got bundled up in our pj's, blankets, gloves, etc. I got mom's radio out of her room and put it on talk radio so we could keep up with what was going on. As we sat there listening to the host of the talk radio station and the people calling in, we saw a few flashes of light. I figured it must have been a transformer that was sparking-though I'm sure some of those flashes may have been from a transformer-not long after a couple of flashes, I also heard some thunder...snow thunder. So, as we sat there watching the candlelight flickering in the room, smelling the wonderful smell of the candles, listening to the sound of the radio, bundled up to keep from getting too cold, we saw flashes possibly from transformers, and flashes of lightning and heard snow thunder. Later that night mom was needing her daily fix of ice cream even though she was quite cold. I figured we may as well indulge ourselves with some, just in case power didn't come back on...it would have melted anyway. So we had a little ice cream. As I took Bella out to go to the bathroom before bed, there were a few good inches of snow on the ground. It was a little hard for her to get through, so thankfully we didn't stay out for long. I was a little nervous about the lightning and possible sparking transformers, so I hoped and prayed she would be quick. Once I got mom her medicine, and put her and Bella to bed, wrapped up with covers and blankets galore, I went back to blow out the candles around the house and get to bed myself. I finally got to bed, but it wasn't the peaceful sleep I was expecting that night. It had nothing to do with the cold, because once I was under my comforter and blankets with my sweatshirt on, I was fine. No, what kept me awake were the sounds I kept hearing throughout the night. As I put my head on the pillow, I kept waking up to cracking sounds, sounds of tree limbs breaking off of trees. It's hard to explain the actual craziness of the sounds, especially when they were just so constant, and seemed so close. Quite a few times during the night I would jump up to check and make sure none of them were coming down on or too near our house. We have a few trees in the backyard. Mom's bedroom is on that side of the house, so I had to check to make sure they would be safe. At one point in the night I did see a decent sized limb that fell in the backyard, but it was farther back, thankfully just missing our shed. What a wild night! Never have I experienced anything quite like that. I could only imagine what daybreak would bring...
Lord, you already knew all along what was going to happen with this storm. What a comfort, peace, and blessing to know that no matter how crazy things were all around us, you were watching over us and in control, protecting us the whole time. Help me to remember that even in other areas of my life...you are in control, you protect and you care. Thank you!

Before the Storm

This may have to be broken up into a couple posts. There is so much that I want to share. I almost thought of breaking it up by the senses, but I think I'll just keep it in chronological order. Last Saturday started off somewhat normally. I say somewhat, because I took Bella out like I normally do. I came back in and was hoping to lay down for a few more minutes before getting up and having breakfast. Not long after, I got a text telling me that some men from my mom's church were coming over to take care of some things at our house. Our washer has been spewing water everywhere, a drain pipe was loose, an outside faucet was leaking, some steps needed to be nailed down again. So mom and I got up and tried to look as presentable as possible before they came. As I was making the eggs for our breakfast, there was a knock on the door, and the first of the men arrived, followed not long after by a couple more, and a couple more, (one being the pastor) later on. I showed them where some of the problems of concern were,and right away they got started. The carpet in the laundry room needed to come up because of being soaked by the washer. The easiest way to get it out of the house would be through the trap door which had not been opened since dad had gotten too sick to go downstairs, so it had been a while. And I was too scared to even begin to open it. The brave men got it open and it wasn't as scary as I thought. There were no creatures living under the steps or hidden in the door or walls, and the steps were still in good working condition which had been another concern of mine...good to know! Though, if I can help it, I will not be opening that door or testing the steps out again anytime soon without someone else being there. The soaking wet carpets were brought out, and the washing machine was checked out. The reason for all of the water was found to be a small hole in the bottom of the tub of the washer. The hole probably could have been patched up, but the men decided to get a washing machine that had been sitting in the shed of the church for a few months, and seemed to be in good working condition, and give that one to us. They took our old one and put it in the shed at the church. They are going to see if one of the men of the church could fix it, and hold on to it for someone else in the future who may need it. So that morning we got a "new" washing machine. The wet, moldy carpet had been removed, the drain pipe was fixed, the faucet to the outside turned off to keep it from dripping needlessly (saving us money). A couple of other things were left to finish up for another day, and with other men that would be able to better help with those. What a blessing to have all of these things done by wonderful men of God who wanted to be a help to us. Men who expected nothing in return than just the knowledge that they were doing God's work for God's people, following Scripture. They left in the early afternoon after having worked very hard. What a blessing to be so well taken care of and loved by these people!
I had planned to go to the mall quickly after they left, but by the time they left and I was ready to go, sleet was starting to come down...the sleet that was supposed to just be the start of a possible huge storm. Sleet...in October??? Huge storm...in October??? Sounds crazy doesn't it? Well, it ended up being much crazier than any of us expected. Alfred was coming...
Lord, thank you so much for your constant provision for us. Thank you for these men who just wanted to be a blessing! Bless them for being a blessing to us! Also, thank you for allowing these things to be taken care of before the craziness of the storm came. You were right on time, as you always are, though so often I have trouble with that. Help me to trust your timing and your knowledge for what we need when we need it.

Back to blogging!

What a long and crazy week it has been around here! I have never experienced anything like it, ever. I am so excited after a week and a day to be able to finally get back to blogging! I have really been missing it...not just writing, but also reading the blogs that I have the great privilege of following. I can't wait to get back to reading some of the posts I have missed. I also can't wait to write some. There is so much in my mind right now. There were so many senses that were affected this week. Things that I look forward to sharing: sights, sounds, smells, feelings- both physical and emotional- that were experienced this week. I know people are calling it winter storm, and I know it brought very wintery precipitation, but it's still fall, so FALL storm Alfred brought about some interesting memories that I will look forward to sharing soon! So great to be back to blogging!!
Lord, thank you for helping us make it through this storm safely, and allowing me some very special memories with mom and Bella.

Missing blogging

Really missing blogging right now! Hope to get back to it again soon, when I have power.

Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh My!

A man is found dead on his property and the cages of his exotic animals are all unlocked and opened. The animals have escaped and are running free in a small town while police try to find them. It sounds like a good mysterious, police novel, doesn't it? Sadly, it's a true story. As I turned on the news yesterday morning and heard this news story, I thought for sure someone was making something up or that I was hearing things wrong. Not so...I heard it correctly. In the morning when I heard it, they didn't know or say what happened to the man, just that he was dead. People in town were calling 911 to report seeing a lion and a bear loose from this man's property. Police arrived to see the man on the ground, dead, with some animals around him and other animals roaming. The police were quite familiar with this man, he has had these exotic animals for a while and the authorities were constantly dealing with him about one of them getting loose, or some of the deplorable conditions that the animals were subjected to. He had been to prison a time or two because of these things. The police now had to deal with these wild animals that were loose. There were lions, Bengal tigers, a Siberian tiger, cheetahs, black bears, grizzly bears, wolves, camels, giraffes and monkeys. Over 50 animals had been let out of their cages and were roaming around the streets. The police did try to tranquilize one of the cats, but it went wild and kept running. Sadly they had to just shoot it, it was night time and who knows where it could have ended up, so for their own safety and the safety of the general public it had to be done. The police knew they had a dangerous situation on their hands. It was now night and trying to find and tranquilize these animals at night would have been too difficult. The sheriffs just wanted to keep the public safe. If the tranquilizers didn't take much effect, the animals could have escaped into the night causing danger to the people. So the deputy sheriff had to make a tough decision to have his men "shoot to kill" each of these escaped animals. As I have heard many people share, "this is sad on all levels". First, the state laws could have been changed to keep from allowing this man to have exotic animals, second he should never have been allowed to still have all of these animals if he wasn't caring for them properly, and last this man knew that opening these cages would put a death sentence on these animals that he loved so much. Of course there are those who are quite upset that these animals were killed. As much of an animal lover as I am, I hated seeing that happen to these animals, but I understood why they needed to do this. Yes, I am a real animal lover...in fourth grade I had to write a paper about things that I looked forward to being able to do when I was an adult, or something like that. After writing that I really wanted to wear high heels when I got older, I wrote that I really wanted to have a farm with dogs, cats, horses, chickens, cows, and ducks...or something similar to that. I have always so badly wanted to work in a zoo, or even just be allowed to feed some cute little monkey, or tiger cub, or my favorite animal...panda bear. I really hope sometime to enjoy the beluga whale or penguin programs at Mystic Aquarium. You can get in the water with the beluga whales and feed them, or go in a private room and get to see penguins up close, would LOVE that!! Anyway, as much as I love animals, I felt that the police were justified in doing what they did. Human life is more important. Many don't feel that way in today's society...it's OK to kill an unborn child, but considered barbaric to kill animals that pose a danger human life. This is a backward way of thinking. Even Jack Hanna, who I admire because he gets to be around animals all the time and knows so much about them and takes great care of them, even he said that this was what the police had to do. He also said he was going to do as much as he possibly can to ensure that nothing like this happens again. There were still a few animals that were in the house and he is taking those to the Columbus Zoo, where he is the director. Some story...
Lord, help us to value human life. You created man, and gave man dominion over the animals. When we are more upset over animals than innocent children being killed, there is something wrong with that thinking. We of course should desire to care for your creation and the animals you have placed on the earth, and not wrongfully mistreat them for our own means. In the same breath we should desire to care for the children you have created, without mistreating them for our own selfish desires and means.

Refreshment

We have all had those moments...we worked hard, played hard, or were off someplace for a while, and became desperate for some refreshment. We couldn't wait to get that water, or lemonade, or iced tea, for some maybe soda, but water seems to truly be the thirst quencher. Even my dog gets to the point where she is desperate for some water. We have had some unseasonably warm days, Sunday we broke a record by getting up to 85 degrees. Columbus Day was also 85. I took Bella for a little walk and she was pretty hot by the time we got back home, I know she wanted her water, but there was a distraction...the homemaker/companion was there and Bella just wanted very badly to greet her. She doesn't seem very comfortable with Bella, so I held on tightly to Bella, tried to get her to drink her water, but since she wouldn't, I just brought her downstairs with me. She was going to have to wait until this lady left before she could get some water. After the homemaker/companion left, Bella wildly searched the house for her, upon not finding her, she finally went to get her drink. I know she needed it. There are other times when Bella and I are playing with her toys, I will throw them and she races around to go get them. She plays hard, and at some point she will run really hard toward where I threw the toy... and then veer off to her water bowl to guzzle some water instead. That refreshment becoming more important to her than her toys. She sometimes drinks so fast that she starts to choke, crazy girl. Again, I'm sure we can relate to that feeling, times where we have been so thirsty that we are just desperate to get that water.
For Christians I'm sure we can relate to this in a spiritual sense as well. Sometimes we are in those dry desert places spiritually and are in desperate need for refreshment. Do we allow distractions to keep us from it, or do we desire it so much that nothing can stop us from getting that needed refreshment? I have been there lately and have struggled to find enough refreshment to satisfy my overwhelming thirst. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to be refreshed. I had been invited to go to a women's conference. I was hesitant because Saturdays are such necessary days to rest. I wasn't sure my exhausted body could make it through an all day conference. I was getting distracted like Bella had been, with something that I wanted, or thought I needed more than that refreshment. As I was trying to decide, the Lord impressed upon me how much I was saying I was struggling, needing to hear from Him and feel Him, and here was this opportunity, so why not take it...a free ticket to a women's conference with good friends. OK, that was it, I had to go. I told that friend that I would take that ticket and meet her there. I got up early Saturday morning, so I could be at the church by 8. I got there and met up with my friends and got ready for a day that I hoped would meet my need. There were main speakers and workshops to attend. The first workshop on How to Get Over Disappointment was perfect for me. The speaker used the story of the woman at the well to bring out some great points. My heart was truly stirred and I felt some of my thirst dissipating. The second workshop was Fear Not Tomorrow For God is Already There. How could I not go to that one? Just what I needed! This lady definitely spoke from experience as she has dealt with an unfaithful husband, an abusive situation after that, a daughter who has made some poor decisions and a grandchild born with health problems. These ladies shared their hearts with us, and were so real. That is something I have talked about lately, and I think it's so important. I could relate to what they were saying about the struggles, even the struggles to see God at times. This was such a great help so I could grasp what they shared about how they dealt with their problems, and sought God through them. My thirst was being quenched. The last main session was by the lady that did the first workshop, and once again I enjoyed her thoroughly. She has been struggling with some things recently- being broke, losing her house and the office where she worked, losing her dad, needing friends to put money together to help her to even be able to attend his funeral in Ghana, losing a relationship with her siblings- but she shared how she has seen God's hand working through these situations. She soon found out that her father had left two houses to her in his will, along with a company employed by hundreds of people. There are still some things that she has to deal with in those situations, but she has seen the Lord at work. I was truly being blessed. The songs that were sung, the truths that were shared, the fellowship we enjoyed, the stories that were told, were truly filling my cup. By the end of that day, I felt that my cup was overflowing. I'm so thankful that I wasn't like Bella, allowing distractions (for me...sleeping in and relaxing on my Saturday), to keep me from the refreshment that I truly needed. I continue to feel refreshed as I think back to the things learned and shared from that day.
Lord, thank you for refreshment when we are in dry desert places. I know you desire that we be filled and fulfilled in You. Thank you for showing me the importance of not allowing distractions to keep me from the refreshment You have for me. May we keep seeking You in those dry desert places, knowing that only through You will we be truly refreshed.