Friday, January 6, 2017

Everything goes well until it doesn't...



      I wrote the title of this post as a polite variation of  shit happens, not to complain about anything going on in my own life that has left me feeling down or wondering why every day isn't a great day or even just a good one. We were reminded of how fast things can change for everyone in 2016, and for the first time in 2017 many of us were again when we lost our power and were left shivering in our homes in the middle of the night.

     The temperature outside was plunging into single digits when the lights went out and the furnace stopped but there wasn't anything many of us could do about that except to hope the electric company could resolve the issue quickly. When power was restored a few hours later it was another reminder of something else we sometimes take for granted; for me it was simply an inconvenience that I hoped would not linger for very long, but for people that cannot pay their utility bills and do not have enough friends or someone in their family to help them out in times of need, or for all of those that have lost their homes because of disaster or another reason my temporary problem was one of annoyance, not dire emergency, and for that I am eternally grateful!

     None of us are immune from unpleasant detours when all is well in life and everything we have and enjoy is working in our favor. That great job or the best people we could hope to surround ourselves with could all become disappointments one day or gone altogether, and all it might take is one bad decision on our part or something we cannot explain at all. It has happened more times to me than I care to divulge here and I am sure it will a few more before I have the chance to know why.

      But I have learned to pick myself up and not rely on anyone to comfort me or suggest ways to avoid being disappointed further, or left to feel sorry for myself when I am having a bad day or when others are doing something that disappoints me. Someday everything I have will be gone so I cherish what is left of my stuff but not as much as I covet the fact that I am still able to protect my home and those who count on me and keep giving me reasons to want to.

     I suspect there are people whose lives rarely get inconvenienced and many who might be reluctant to admit that everything isn't rosy for them all the time but I am more comfortable in my own surroundings when I am not joined there by them. It isn't that I resent people that seem to be born into immunity from ever being let down or anyone that has earned it, I just don't have the time nor patience to waste marveling at them or wondering why my own life was one of more challenges than theirs. But they too will know moments when everything was going well until it stopped; it might be a health concern that becomes out of anyone's ability to correct or the loss of a loved one but none of us finish life as happy as we were before something changed.

     In the moments before the power went off the other night I was looking in the medicine cabinet for a bottle of Excedrin hoping to relieve a headache that had been lingering all day and I blurted out oh shit!  There were a few last-minute routines I needed to undertake before going to bed and suddenly I was not only in the dark but so was my 13 year-old disabled dog that needed to get outside one more time for the evening; a chore that requires lifting her to steady her (95 pounds) and carefully guiding her through 3 rooms and down 4 steps to the yard which was not only freezing but now pitch-black.

     Normally on a frigid night such as this one I would know it was time for her and I would be completely dressed for the elements including a coat, cloves and suitable shoes, but I was in my boxer-shorts, a t-shirt and only socks when the lights went out and my other gear was in two other rooms! After successfully helping her and my other dog get out and back inside it was feeding time for them and for the cat that was howling for her late-night snack also. However, before I could address any of that I needed to find candles to see what I was doing and to light a few paths in the house and to do that I needed matches, which I had forgotten where I put them.

     Once those routines were accomplished there was the matter of rigging up suitable warmth and the garage was where I needed to go to search for a kerosene heater I keep for such emergencies. After another 10 or 15 minutes it was inside and fired-up and with the warmth came the stench of burning petroleum in my living room that quickly mingled with the stench of scented candles. They were all we had because my wife believes candles should emit aromas whereas I cannot stomach the smell of pumpkin spice, vanilla or raspberries if it only resembles the real thing.

      It must be a woman thing, or only something feminine men can appreciate; flavored candles? Please. That might be one of the worst ideas ever come up with but at this crucial time I had no other choice but to light several as I still needed to find that pill bottle and put into play a few more indoor and outdoor routines before sitting up through the night to make sure we stayed warm without inviting disaster by being careless with the flames now needed for light and comfort. It was then I wished I hadn't switched from a gas stove to an electric one when those words came to me; everything goes well until it doesn't...and how good a cup of hot coffee would be right now!

     So I returned to the garage to find my portable propane stove to heat water. (What's a few more fumes when one has a splitting headache?) As I was setting it up on the back porch I received an alert on my cell phone from the electric company advising that power would likely be off for 4 hours, and then a second one came warning that it might be 12 hours and the only good in any of that was that at least I could snuff out those stinking candles when the sun came up. But then, 20 minutes later, like an answer to a silent prayer that nothing else would go wrong and that no more delays would be advised the sound of the furnace and the lights coming on at the same time once again served as a reminder that God hears us and once again everything was going well.

     If there is a point to be made here it is only that I experienced another episode of temporary set-back and that I need to work a little harder on taking fewer things (like electricity) for granted. In recent years I have been working harder and harder on doing that while encouraging others not to take life or themselves too seriously when everything isn't going the way we hope it will. Like the 2016 election cycle; where out of nowhere our political system was turned inside out to reveal how different we all are and how much unalike our expectations are.

     For liberals everything was going their way, and the future looked nearly guaranteed that it would for years to come until shock waves were sent on election day, and now for everyone (like me) that believes liberalism is barely different than a dangerous cult it is even more important as we look ahead to remember, everything goes well until it doesn't. If we can keep the power we need on, and if we never take for granted what it means to have it (or be without it) we should be fine. On the other hand; if we get cocky or don't prepare for emergencies or steady our emotions when something unexpected comes along we will be in far worse trouble than I was when the lights went out.

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