On appreciation and things you take for granted.Follow

God I'm cold. I never thought I could be so cold, that I would ever be this bone-chilled.

You see, the power went out where I live due to a horrific icestorm. At 10:30 pm EST on the 22nd it cut out. And it just came up half an hour ago. 60 hours with no power.

60 hours of no hot food, of huddling around a propane heater for warmth. 60 hours of everyone in my house crowded in the living room where there was some heat. 2 and a half days of hoping beyond hope that today would be the day.

At night the temperature outside was well below zero, out here in the country. The fact that we were able to keep the little pocket in the living room at around 45 degrees is a marvel.

Yesterday we lost water too. No light, no heat, no phone, and no water.

And it came home to me. I knew, miserable though I was, that eventually it would end. That we'd get power back (like now) and with it we'd get heat.

And at some point, we knew, power would be restored where our water tower is, allowing the pumps to fill the tower and get water to us.

And while I was outside cracking the ice in our horses' trough, it struck me that while this nightmare of no heat, no light, no water, and little food would end for me, there are entirely too many people who have no hope of light, or heat. For them the coldness and hunger never really ends.

Something to think about today, of all days. Really think about.

My best wishes to you all in this season.

Slowly-warming,

Nataraja

Edited, Sat Dec 25 11:16:43 2004 by nataraja

................i hate it when we lose power for like 2 hours but two and a half DAYS???

the closest i have come to what you had was a 24-our food fast at church but thats nothing compared to you.

hope you feel warmer soon. :)

I was out of power for four days when the hurricanes hit this year, so I sort of know how you feel.. though it wasn't really all that cold down here. And I agree.. once you have something you start taking advantage of it. It's not until you don't have it that you really start to realize how much it means to you.

It was an eye-opener, and make no mistake.

A couple of years ago I had the "opportunity" to live in abject poverty for a year. While things have improved for myself the situation left me with a life-long appreciation for my financial state, shakey though it is. Since then I have maintained that it would probably do most people a great deal of good to be severely poor for a year.

This situation's impact was much the same, and rotten though it was I think going through that put a number of things into better contrast. I think at the end of the day it carries life-lessons that will not leave me.

Ah well.

As for my own situation, my Christmas plans were more or less shot because of all this. Nevertheless, I had a lovely Christmas. I don't celebrate the holiday personally, but some who care about me feel a need to affirm that regard and caring with gift-giving, and so I habitually just go through the motions for their sakes. It seems to mean a lot to them. But the giving this year was a surprise.

Being something on the order of $1,000 in debt to my parents, their gift to me (among other smaller things) was to forgive me $700 of that debt, such that with the check I just handed them the slate is wiped clean.

... I cried when they told me that was my gift. I really did.

More endless luck for me, who typically feels pretty luckless. Most people don't have the option of being forgiven any debts.

Not trying to preach any real message here, but I felt some might be interested in how this season has played out for me.

This Christmas has proven to be a lesson in appreciation and humility, and that's probably the greatest gift of them all.

<rate up for all>

A month or so ago my engine blew in my van... my van that I am still making payments on. Our "Emergency" fund was gone. To add a note, we are around $10,000 in debt for various reasons. I've had to get a another van until tax time comes to fix the other van... around $200 a month. Of course we cannot afford to have two of them after that (or now for that matter) but I sit back and think... I have a wonderful wife, two healthy children and another on the way. I have water, internet, heat, transportation, food, love, and faith. There are some out there this season (or any season for that matter) that have none of that. What are my problems compared to that... I am so lucky and blessed to have what I do. I am a Christian, and therefore do celebrate Christmas, but a lot of you are not, so i will say Happy Holidays to you and yours. May you soar on the wings of eagles forever. And to you Nataraja... thank you for the reminder to be truly thankful for what we do have^^

Fionchadd

There seems to be no end to this.

After my last post, at about 10:30 PM or so, I hear my step-father gasping and moaning as if in immense pain.

Ambulance called, step-father taken to hospital.

Rather than sleeping peacefully in my (finally) warm bed, as you might have been (and I myself was about 10 minutes away from this selfsame sacrement when this newest disaster struck), I (and my mother) spent the last hour or so of Christmas and several hours thereafter watching her beloved husband, a man I love and respect, writhing in agony on a hospital bed, waiting for the prognosis.

We felt more like we were waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thankfully, after many hours of waiting on results from a cat-scan, it turned out to be a 1 mm kidney stone.

I am told that, while small, the pain caused by one of these is roughly equivalent to being in labor.

My step-father is very lucky though, as the stone is small enough for him to pass safely on his own. So bleary-eyed and exhausted we made our way home around 3:30 AM.

Upon our arrival home at 4 AM, the other shoe dropped.

Power was out. House was frigid. Dogs were half-dead from cold.

Turn on propane heater, warm up dogs, try not to break down in frustration and despair.

As soon as we were all set to spend another night camped in the living room, the power returns.

...

It has honestly begun to feel like we are being toyed with, as though some malicious and feckless deity were orchestrating our lives into some macabre marionette dance for his dark and callous amusement.

Regardless, my usual habit of finding some good or at least some lesson or new viewpoint when adversity strikes can no longer bear me up. I see nothing from which I can take value among these most recent travails.

But then, I haven't had a decent and restful night's sleep in days, so it may be that I'm just not seeing it. Perhaps in the morning some quality of the dawn light will illuminate a facet of this matter that I have thus far overlooked.

I fervently hope your yuletide passed marginally better than my own, at least insofar as this spectacular conclusion is concerned.

Oyasuminasai.

Very hard to say how I feel after reading these posts. Look like God or whatever-you-want-to-call-Him wanted to slap you more than once.

Hopefully, you seem to keep something important : Hope.
Hopefully, you still have the most important things : Love, and Friends.

My best wishes for you.

Edited, Sun Dec 26 17:39:40 2004 by Freyir