I’m convinced
adversity is where we learn our most valuable lessons in life.
This storm sucked
(or should I say it blew…har, har.)
We are 5 days “without”
power. I say “without” because we have
had a generator since Saturday. My
grandparents bought us a generator after one of the snow storms knocked our
power out several years ago, so we have been extremely blessed to have it. We had two fridges and freezers full of food
and that would’ve been horrible to lose all of that food (I know many of you
all did and I am SO very sorry for that.)
Let’s see…I guess
I should give the short version of how things went down in our world Friday
night. Kevin’s mom came in to visit (she
couldn’t have picked a more rotten time, huh?) and we went down to the Cork
& Pork Festival in Covington. Around 8:30, people
started racing around to pack up. I
thought they had lost it and thought they were acting irrational and
prematurely since there was not a cloud in the sky at the time. A vendor with his phone in hand said a storm
had passed through Lewisburg and was coming our way and was U-shaped, producing
dangerous wind, yadda, yadda. I just shook my head
because we have had these silly warnings so many times…snow, storms, etc. We went ahead and left and as we got to the
end of Monroe Street,
the lights were flickering at the Kangaroo station…then Hardees. As we came through Parrish Court, the lights we’re
flickering on the church sign outside Grace Brethern
Church. As we approached Edgemont/JWIS, Kevin looked
in the sky and said, “Oh crap.” In the
sky was...we don’t really know. It was a
vertical cloud and it was moving faster than anything we’ve ever seen
before. Kevin slammed the brakes on and
turned around right in the middle of the road and went back the other way. We pulled over and he watched it in an effort to avoid it's path, then it
turned and went over Pitzer’s Ridge. He
whipped the van around and hit the gas and I’m pretty sure we pulled into the
front yard on two wheels. The kids were
bawling. We ran to the basement. Not two minutes later, something was on fire
across the street from the school and a tree had fallen across the bridge (that
we had just crossed), destroying part of the side of the bridge and blocking
traffic until it could be cut. We ran
downstairs in the dark, scrambling for flashlights and candles, the kids still
crying and worried about everything, with the dogs at the top of the list. The
next door neighbors joined us in the basement as we sat in the dark. It was a scary hour or so and in that time in
the dark, what’s most important in life became extremely visible.
So here I sit at
the church, 5 days later. We still don’t
have power at our house.
The kids went
home with the grandparents where they didn’t have to “rough it.” I regret not making the first-born stay and
de-tox from electronics, but time with family is good too. Maybe I'll throw the breakers in a few weeks and make him endure it for a little while :)
Sunday morning we
had church at the picnic shelter.
Amazing Grace sounds beautiful under there. It was humbling.
We have cooked every
meal on the grill and I can’t remember when I have cooked so much. I forgot how much I loved to cook.
I am certain I
could go for the rest of my life without the tv. I haven't missed it for a second.
We had our
"elderly" (I use the term loosely because at 93. she gets around better than we do most of the time!) neighbor over for dinner and swimming and we talked to some other neighbors
down the street whom we haven’t talked with in ages…well because we’re all just too
busy, of course.
Kevin’s mom taught
me how to heat water on the grill and pour it through the coffeemaker for
coffee on Saturday morning. I could've kissed the woman's feet.
We went to our
neighbors’ house and sat on the back deck and talked each night.
I washed clothes in
the bathtub and hung on the neighbor’s clothesline. We’re installing a clothesline and I will be
making the kids participate in hanging them out.
I’ve loved the
sense of community. I’ve loved how the
days seem to last so much longer.
I know everybody wants the conveniences of power back…a dishwasher and a
washing machine and a light in the bathroom. Me too. As much as I look
forward to returning to the 21st century way of life, I will grieve
this simplicity when it’s gone. I’m
going to make an attempt to try to make simplicity a priority in the Griffith
Family Way of Life.
