Storm heroes...and what we do best

As life goes on....

Well, everyone here is calling it the October Surprise. It was a surprise alright - 23 inches of snow fell on Buffalo Thursday night and by 1:30 Friday morning, our power had gone out and would be out for 3 1/2 days. Towns are actually closed to all traffic except emergency and utility vehicles; schools and churches are open only as warming centers, and several school districts are closed for the entire week. Of course our office has been closed so I have been home from work and Lilly is trying to figure this whole thing out. (Why is this lady home? Isn't she supposed to be out making money to buy my biscuits?).
She has been sleeping with us - good, warm doggie.
On Friday night, Scott, Tina, and the kids were here because their house was without power or heat. Our family room has a gas wall furnace which still had working burners, although the fan didn't work. But it was toasty. We played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit by candlelight, and ate lots of comfort food. (couldn't let the food in the fridge spoil now, could we?).
My fridge is cleaner than it has been in ages because I had to clean it yesterday after tossing the bad stuff...that's a good thing. Today, I'll be doing a few things around here that I've been wanting to do for awhile but don't normally have the energy to do after working all week.
I did manage to make Ron learn that living with me is a challenge - ok let me re-phrase that: Ron found out that I am always coming up with new ways to make him shake his head...like yesterday morning as I was getting ready for church. I lined up some of my heat rollers on the wall furnace in the family room. I don't do straight hair very well, so I thought this would do the trick. They warmed up fast, but alas, it was just the outside that warmed up and not the core of the curler. Bottom line, it didn't work well. But I wasn't the only one at church with bad hair. And you know what? It didn't really bother me. We find out what's important in times like this.
I have a friend at church who is suffering from lung cancer, but who has the most wonderful attitude about it. Her daughter, also a very good friend of mine, said that her mom said about the weather and power failure: "If I weren't sick this would be fun...but I am glad to be here to see it. " Ok THAT puts things into perspective, doesn't it?
And everywhere there are heroes...the men and women who work for the power companies, the fire and police departments, and everyone who has helped anyone during this experience. The local radio stations who have kept going on generator power, linking those with portable radios to the outside world. We bought our short wave/am-fm radio in December 1999 when everyone was concerned about the millenium. So we put some new batteries in it and listened to the heroes of the airwaves tell the stories of the heroes out in the storm. I am in awe of the people who work for utility companies.
So I am home for at least today, and counting my blessings. Thanking God for the extra time I had with my children and grandchildren, for the fact that we have power when others don't - and maybe they NEED power more than Ron and I do. And for the fact that even in darkness, God's light doesn't disappear. He is always with us.
About 10 minutes after our power went on yesterday, I turned on the TV. Kind of reluctantly, but still wondering what was going on in the world, I put Fox News on. There, as it seems happens so often these days, the breaking news was telling about a disaster...this time the quake in HI. And there were all the things that were going on here...lines at the grocery stores, the working gas stations, hotels...the only difference was that the temperatures there were in the 80s.
And life goes on...just as we do - no matter what.
Because God always helps us to find the blessing.
'Til next time,
Sue