Okay.
So I live in a part of the country where people tend to panic at the first sight of a snowflake. Flurries are breaking news and schools shut down at the mere mention of possible icy roads. We've got our quirks, that's for sure. As someone who grew up in the Midwest, I have often found great humor at the sight of southern belles wearing their fur-lined boots in sixty-degree weather. I have shook my head more than once at the sheer panic that breaks out when the phrase "wintry mix"' enters the forecast.
I gotta say, I'm not laughing anymore.
We got hit hard with an ice storm earlier in the week that still has thousands of people without power. I've seen tornado damage on more than once occasion; what I have seen driving around the last few days rivals that same sort of devastation, let me tell you. No, there are no empty foundations or mile-wide paths of destruction... just trees down everywhere. Hundred-year old trees, beautiful live oak trees, majestic pine trees... broken, splintered, snapped. Piled up alongside the roads, in the roads, precariously perched on rooftops.
I have seen convoys of electric trucks from at least four different states. I was stopped in traffic by the Air National Guard as they removed a huge tree from the road. I've seen random citizens direct traffic at the many stoplights that are still not functioning.
And to top it all off, we experienced an earthquake last night. Not severe enough to do any kind of damage, but just so you know, in case you've never felt the earth shake, a 4.1 will rattle the walls as it rumbles beneath you. Very eerie, indeed.
I ventured out today only to discover gasoline is virtually non-existent on my side of the river. I felt lucky to find a package of chicken at Walmart. It really does make you stop and think...
We have been so blessed in our part of the world. We truly are a pampered, spoiled people. Now I'm not saying we're not grateful or ignorant of what we have; but my goodness, how fortunate we are! I was whining earlier in the week at the lack of electricity to power up my Keurig. Now I'm just thankful to have electricity.
Nothing like getting your perspective changed.
2 comments:
Yep, people always talk about first world problems, but it takes a crisis(weather or otherwise) to make us thankful for what we have. A few years back we had a horrible ice storm and were out of power for days, the first such occurrence in my 57 years of life. I was a basket case and SO GRATEFUL when the power came back on.
I have experienced an ice storm and an earthquake. Both are nothing to laugh at. Stay safe.
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