Today, for the THIRD straight day in a row, we looked out of the front door of our Gastonia, North Carolina, home to a winter wonderland. It is beautiful out there- a snow covered ground, with a layer of ice on top of it all.
The sun is out today for the first time in over a week, and it is just glistening off the snow and ice covered tree-tops.
This makes a picture that even an artist could not duplicate; but there is another side to all of this “beauty”.
That is, the real-life side:
1. the “I can’t get out to work AGAIN TODAY” side;
2. the “no trash pick-up again today” side;
3. the “FINALLY mail today” side;
4. the “no UPS deliveries AGAIN TODAY” side;
5. the “NO SCHOOL AGAIN TODAY” side;
and finally,
6. the “I am stuck in this house again today” side.
We, personally, have been truly blessed throughout this entire ordeal.
1. We volunteer- rather than working- so we are able to cancel our plans whenever we need to;
2. We have only ONE bag of trash a week, so the lack of trash pick-up has not affected us;
3. We don’t get much important mail, so the lack of mail service for two days hasn’t bothered us;
4. We don’t usually shop through the mail, so the lack of UPS deliveries has not affected us either;
5. We have no young children, (whom we have seen sledding down the middle of the road in our park- thus packing the snow and ice down even more);
6. And finally- we don’t mind being STUCK in the house- at all! We actually welcome some ‘down time’. It gives me- Gail- a chance to catch up on some much-needed ministry paper work.
In our line of ‘work’, we talk to a lot of people. So we get a variety of different opinions from a cross-culture of the population. And when we get this type of unusual weather- it surely brings out different opinions in people!
1. Some of our neighbors love this weather!
They are happy to be able to go sledding with their children- who RARELY see this much snow in this part of the state. We have also watched these people get out in their cars and drive down the hill- sliding sideways all the way. But they seem to love the thrill and adventure of it all.
2. Others think of it this bad weather as an “inconvenience.” They are a little miffed about having to wait a day or two to get off the hill to go to the store for some supplies. But they are willing to wait it out.
3. Still others don’t care one way or the other. They are disabled- and the bad weather doesn’t really affect them too much.
4. Then there are those- and I fit into this category- who DISLIKE the snow. IMMENSELY!!!
I spent most of my life in New England, which meant spending days on end without power- EVERY winter season.
It meant making up A LOT of ‘snow days’ in school- going sometimes until the end of June. UGH!!
It meant spending your time off from school- because of bad weather- SHOVELING the driveway- by hand! This was always a dreaded task.
And it meant that you could not go anywhere with your friends on the weekend. (THAT alone was torture to me when I was a teenager.)
This huge amount of snow and ice- which strands us in the trailer park that we live in for days on end- is beautiful to look at, but AWFUL for me to live in because it reminds me too much of the Northeast- which I moved away from many years ago to get away from this kind of weather!
We personally have plenty of food and we have been truly blessed to NOT lose our power this time; and that in and of itself is an answered prayer.
But it is still always nice to know that you CAN get out- IF you really need to.
For my part, I just sit here at the computer; spending some much- needed time getting our new website designed and some files updated; and praying for warmer weather- which is only about 9 weeks away. YEAH!
By the way- when the warmer weather comes, you will be reading about my tremendous dislike for fire ants (which we have), roaches (which we don’t have, thank God, but which our neighbors have in abundance; and there is always that chance that they could wander over here for a visit…the roaches, that is, not the neighbors- who are welcome anytime!) and spiders (which I just don’t like- period)!
So I guess that it is all a matter of perspective- dealing with whatever God wants us to have.
And thanking Him for taking care of us, no matter what.
But, that doesn’t mean that I have to like it!
Until the next time- God bless you all.