This past Wednesday, I worked outside for a while. The weather was great. Not at all chilly. It was so difficult to remember the previous Wednesday, when I took a long, long hot bath, because we did have hot water, because the hot water heater is gas-powered. I assumed, wrongly, that the hot, hot water, which I kept replenishing, would make the bathroom itself warm. But, when I finally got out of the tub, the surrounding air in the bathroom was still quite chilly. Really chilly. I put on several layers of clean clothing (after two days of wearing the same clothes), and we went to David’s workplace, where we spent the next two days.
Thursday afternoon, just a week ago, the power was back on, the heater was humming away, and we settled back into our regular routine. Well, sort of.
On Friday morning, I thought, “Oh, I can get back to normal,” which is usually housework on Fridays, laundering the sheets, cleaning the bathrooms, the floors, getting things in order. But, we were under a minimal use of water order. No washing machines or dishwashers, limited showers. So my pile of laundry had to stay in a pile. We used paper plates and disposable tableware and cups. I boiled water, except David said that only the small towns around us needed to boil water; our water was safe, but, still limited use. So, I used my nice, boiled water in my tea maker. There was a ban on car washes and commercial laundries for a few days.
Then, ta-dah, everything was back to normal. I washed and dried clothes. I washed and dried all the blankets and quilts that we’d used on the bed for a couple of days, when the temperature was 40° inside, and then on the floor at David’s workplace. And, pretty quickly, things were back to very much normal. Clean clothes back in the closet, blankets and quilts back in the cedar chest, and all the snow, gone.
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- Last Saturday, just the least bit of snow left.
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- Sunday. you’d never have known that any thing unusual had happened here.
I had brought some of the most tender plants indoors. They may spend the rest of the winter inside. Of course, it’s almost March, so, that won’t be a very long stay.
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- I think the geraniums would like to live indoors all winter lng.
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- These little plants are stretching toward the window. They’d like a little more sun, please.
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- The airplane plants also like being indoors.
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- I have this little greenhouse where I put the less-hardy plants during the winter. Some make it; some don’t. This year, nothing had a chance.
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- Much of what I pulled out of the greenhouse was unrecognizable to me. I do not remember what this is.
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- Or this.
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- Or this. They’re all just dead.
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- Rosemary is very hardy, and came through it all quite well.
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- The violas and pansies look just like they did before the snow and ice.
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- These are herbs: chives, oregano, salad burnet, lemon balm, but the dill didn’t make it.
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- And this is the thyme garden, which looks pretty much like it did back in the summer. It’s why I grow them.
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- These are mums; very reliable, very sturdy.
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- I’ve had this citronella plant for YEARS! It’s lived through many winters. It’s a goner, now.
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- And these plants are . . . WEEDS. They’re growing just FINE, thank you very much.
One plant didn’t do well at all.
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- Constance, back in mid-October
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- This is Constance, now. It may be the last hurrah for her.
And, my understanding that I should find a way to help folks who might be struggling in ways I cannot understand . . .
Discover creative ways to encourage others and to motivate them toward acts of compassion, doing beautiful works as expressions of love.
Hebrews 10:24 (The Passion Translation)
Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out
Hebrews 10:24 (The Message)
Let us be concerned for one another, to help one another to show love and to do good.
Hebrews 10:24 (Good News Translation)
In response to all he has done for us, let us outdo each other in being helpful and kind to each other and in doing good.
Hebrews 10:24 (The Living Bible)
As I scrolled through Facebook at the end of last week, I saw a notice from a friend that the local Family Abuse Center needed liquid soap and twin-sized blankets. I called the phone number listed, explained that I saw the request, and I got directions. The place is a safe haven for women and children who need a place to live when there has been an abusive home situation. There’s no sign on the place, you have to be buzzed in, and they are careful about strangers. The person who buzzed me in explained that, during the deep freeze of the previous week, pipes had frozen and burst and water damage had damaged a lot of bedding. So, last Monday, a dozen bottles of liquid soap and a dozen blankets were delivered to the center.