The Storms of Life

Secret #2

It is easy enough to be pleasant,
    When life flows by like a song,
But the (wo)man worthwhile is one who will smile,
    When everything goes dead wrong.
                                    

                      Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ever had one of those days when you just want to crawl under the bed and hide until the storms of life pass by?  Who hasn't you say?  How you deal with adversity separates the wheat from the chaff.  I would love to say that I am wheat all the time but the brutal truth is:  sometimes I'm chaff.  Sometimes it's just hard being a worthwhile person.  

Today started with a nasty little surprise for us.  I was startled awake at 5:30 something a.m.  I glanced toward my digital clock to see what time it was.  Hum, no clock.  Sophie(c.a.t.) must have knocked it off in the night.  Oh, well, no sweat.  I'll just get up and visit bathroom before I resume my beauty sleep.  Turning toward my bedroom door I expected to see my little night light glowing in the hallway.  No light.  Now I am totally confused!  Women of a certain age like me, need light and bathrooms. Telling Sophie to stay in our bed (the last thing I need is a cat ankle bracelet as I stumble around in the dark) I feel my way to the last known location of my bedroom door. Slowly the awful truth is dawning on me.  It can't be! No! No way!  NO ELECTRIC!  Have I called down my worst nightmare by blogging about it yesterday?

Sophie looking for trouble and usually finding it.

O.K. O.K. I can do this.  All the emergency stuff is not quite where it is suppose to be and why should it be. It was so warm yesterday all thoughts of winter preparation simply disappeared from my mind.  Desperately needing coffee, I realize the propane Coleman Camp Stove is out in the barn.  That place is scary in the daylight much less while it is still dark and storming.  No thank you, I'll just pout and be cranky.  Caffeine withdrawal can be an ugly thing.

Called electric company and was very politely informed that their crews were working on the problem and the power would be restored as soon as possible.  Within an hour the power was back on and everything was good in my world.

And then:
Becky says,"Mum, I don't want to alarm you but your computer won't turn on."  Alarm me, alarm me!  I wilt like spinach in a hot pan.  Not my computer. Please, please, please. Not my computer. After an hour of following all the instructions on the help page, I surrender in utter despair.  Picking up my phone, a call is placed to Best Buy in Muskogee.  I explain the situation to them, and I am told to bring it in.

Carefully loading my baby in the car, I speed away.  Upon arriving at Best Buy, the sick computer is carried into the store.  I place my precious cargo on the counter and tell the young men "this black box is holding all my memories hostage and I need help."  Young man #1 says, "You're the lady that called aren't you?" Glad to know I leave an impression on people even on the phone.  Thank goodness, all my baby needs is a power supply box.  I can't explain all the whys and wherefores about the situation because they were talking "geek speak".  I asked about the English version but didn't even understand that.  I happily pay the bill and bring my baby home.

After such a stressful day, the only cure for my pain is a strawberry frosty from Wendy's and a good long nap. 

I hope that I handled today's problems with grace and dignity. Clearly, my life did not flow like a song today.

A Day of Pure Bliss

Secret #1
We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

                                                                                                                           Joseph Campbell

Our day started at 5:30 a.m. this morning.  A rogue cell phone alarm clock screamed a snappy tune while I was still deep in my dream state. And joy of all joy, it has an automatic snooze button so there is no escape except to physically go to the living room and shut the darn thing off.  Good thing Becky got there first or the offensive smart phone could have found itself damaged beyond repair. If the dog gone thing was so smart (smart phone my foot) it would have known it was a holiday and we get to sleep in. Half a pot of coffee later, I'm finally coming back to the land of the living.  Becky prepared us a lovely energy shake for breakfast.  Due to the holidays, she has a few days off work.

A couple of months ago, Becky decided to learn to cook and blog about it (Becky Cooks Lightly).  Having a second cook in the house is the best thing ever.  I am eating healthier than any other time in my life not to mention how great the food is. 

For Christmas, Becky gave me a cleaver little solar powered rainbow maker from Amazon.com. The small device is attached to a window by a simple suction cup. Why didn't I think of that? Anyway, we lounged in the converted garage/garden room enjoying the play of colors all around the room and reading real books made of real paper.  Of course Maggie Mae (d.o.g.) and Molly (c.a.t.) joined us.  Sophie (c.a.t. #2) was banished to the back half of the house because she has developed a nasty attitude toward her adopted sisters.  She seems to have forgotten that she too was someones'  throw away before she landed in the lap of luxury at our home. Izzie (c.a.t.#1), Grabby Britches (c.a.t. last but not least) and the two wieners (d.o.g.s.) just hung out doing whatever happy pets do.

Maggie Mae and Molly

We share our home with three dogs, four cats, a fish and a lovebird that has outlived several of our other pets who all died from natural causes (doesn't make it any less traumatizing). I will share their individual rescue stories with you a little at a time.  Don't want to sound like one of those crazed people who go on and on about their animals, but I am.

Lunch was unbelievable!  The salad Becky prepared was so delicious and absolutely beautiful to behold. We reheated the spiral cut ham that guardian angel Gene gave Becky for Christmas.

 The weather is unusually warm and sunny for a winter's day in Oklahoma.  Even the bees have come out of their hive which is located in the hollow limb of a huge silver leaf maple tree ten feet from the front door. We all live in harmony having agreed "do no harm" works both ways. Heaven on earth. Pure bliss.

After lunch, Maggie Mae was repeatedly going to the front door.  Oh yeah, time to drive up to the road to check the mailbox.  Yes, we drive to the mailbox, it's not like it's 15 feet away!  There is a five acre track of land that separates us from the rest of humanity.  Mags lives for this part of the day.  Sometimes we take a drive around our neighborhood singing "driving around Maggie's neighborhood, oh what a beautiful day it is."  Yeah, I am more than a  little eccentric but that's o.k. because I want to be a whole lot eccentric.  While Mags and I are out touring the sites of Keefeton, America, Becky is once again in the kitchen.  This time she is baking chocolate zucchini bread.  What a blessing to have a daughter that loves to cook!  Joy! Joy! Joy!

Life in the country is grand



Welcome To My World

I had always been the material girl. More clothes, shoes and jewelry than ten women could wear in a lifetime. I never met an electrical gadget I didn't like.  Then one cold Christmas day, life as I knew it was forever changed.  An ice storm like I had never seen hit Oklahoma locking most of us in it's icy grip.  Some weathered it better than others.  My daughter Becky and I were not one of the fortunate ones.  Our lovely home was total electric.  We had a wood burning stove with an electric blower therefore most of the heat went up the stovepipe.  Our many pets were gathered in a circle around the wood stove and Beck and I took turns staying awake to keep our only source of heat going.  We burned all the seasoned wood we had and then tried to burn the wet snow covered green wood (I have since learned the difference between the two).  A trip to the barn produced an assortment of old wood furniture that we burned to stay not even close to warm.  Layered up in many levels of clothing (who cares if anything is stylish or matching at this point), we bore a strong resemblance to the abominable snowman. 

Next on our agenda was scavenging for food.  Luckily we had a hand can opener because our total electric kitchen was useless.  I managed to heat soup and rice in a cast iron skillet inside the wood stove.  Seven days of hell later, I chased down the electric company crew in the neighborhood (still dressed in my clothes of many colors) to remind them that our house was the one up in the pasture that no one knows is there.  After a couple of false starts, the power came back on and stayed.  Then I had my epiphany:  We would never be cold or hungry again if I could help it.  So I set out to find how my country neighbors and friends managed so well while the material girl froze her fannie off.  This site is dedicated to everyone who taught and still teaches me something new and exciting everyday about Simple Living and the pleasures it brings.

P.S. Before the next winter descended upon us, my brother, David, ran a natural gas line to our house and put in two gas heating stoves donated by our friendly guardian angel, Gene Shipman.