I try to be grateful for my many blessings. Even when I am disgruntled for one reason or another… a meeting after school when I really want to go to the beach and walk; students asking too many questions about something they “ought to know”; passersby throwing trash in my yard; a dirty microwave (really?!) that someone else should have wiped down; you know, the usual daily annoyances. But it is easy (oh so easy) to feel sorry for oneself.
One day a couple of weeks ago I surprised myself by a sudden feeling of gratitude as I wrapped a clean towel around me after my shower. I’m not sure why, but that particular morning I was supremely grateful for the sweet smell (or lack thereof, since I use a fragrance-free detergent) and softness of that towel. And of course for the warm water in the shower that came before the towel!
So fast-forward to tonight, after five days without running water. As of 5 PM this evening, not only were my pipes thawed but the break was repaired and water, glorious water, is flowing through my pipes! We are so spoiled, aren’t we?
I have been carrying home jugs of water… picture Laura Ingalls Wilder toting buckets from the spring. (I loved her as a child, when I read the books, and again later in the television series; but I never really wanted to be her!)… so I could flush my toilet. But all week long, as I filled those jugs, I was grateful for the workplace where I could fill them.
And I have been grateful that, except for one hour during the night while Winter Storm Grayson was at his worst, I did not lose power or heat. And I have thought of those long, cold, snowy winters in Boone. And I have been reminded of my sweet Daddy who had to go outside, around the house, to put coal in our furnace in the middle of the night to keep the fire burning and thus keep us warm, no matter how deep the snow was.
And here on this beautiful island, I was able to walk where I needed to go… even if just to take pictures of the ice accumulating in the sound. And even after the roads were passable, I had a reliable car to take me where I needed to go, including the ever-open Variety Store because I had to have onions and butter (bread and milk are not vital to my existence!) Travel was never a problem. Okay, so the ferries did not run for awhile but I didn’t need to go off -island. I did not for a minute feel stranded. And once again I thought of Daddy. I can still picture him putting chains — heavy, unwieldy metal things– on the tires so he could get to work on those many snowy days. No wonder he was not thrilled when we met him at the door after a hard day’s work, saying “Do you think we’ll have school tomorrow? Do you? Do you?”
And yes, until he died, I would call him any time snow was in the forecast just to ask that question. We laughed about it, but maybe he was not amused!
What else am I grateful for? The many friends who offered their showers — and in a couple of cases, even a room with a bathroom– to me while I was without water. And especially my new friend Debbie whose offer I accepted, because of proximity. And Susan, who brought me quiche to reheat after I told her (not really complaining, just commenting) that soon all my dishes would be dirty: “just put it on a paper plate and throw it away!” And it even had spinach and mushrooms, two of my favorites! Laura, who loaned me a heating pad to wrap around my frozen pipes (didn’t help any more than my hair dryer– too little, too late– but still a kind gesture. And Adam who found someone to come fix my broken pipe. (I will say that I think I could have fixed it myself if I had the tools, but… face it, I do have delusions of self-sufficiency!) And my landlady Lynne and friends Phillip and Amy who kept in contact as we dealt with the problems.
And I am grateful (and more than slightly embarrassed) that I had enough clean clothes to last me more than a week… and that doesn’t even count the stuff that is still at my other house or the out-of-season stuff. And that my kitchen here is fully-stocked with both dishes and food. And so tonight, I actually enjoyed washing dishes– yes, by hand; sure do usually miss my dishwasher!– and doing laundry. And I was exceptionally grateful that I had the running water to do so.
I can’t say enough about the wonderful folks at the Ocracoke Sanitary District Water Plant (I think that is the official name!). They had already come out during the Christmas break to turn my water off and then back on just in case something happened while I was away. And in the last week they came out to shut it off so that there would not be a flood if the thaw happened while I was asleep or at school. And when the temperature finally rose above freezing , they came out– as soon as I called– several times until we were able to not only get the pipes thawed but also repair the break. And each person who came (Dave, David and one other young man whose name I don’t know) took the time to visit with me. They were not simply doing their job; they showed that they cared about me and not just my water!
Life is not perfect. Mine or yours. And everything does not always run like clockwork. And there are glitches. Pipes freeze and burst. But I wore my pajamas inside out, and I got my Ocracoke snow. Not a big, fluffy snow, but snow nonetheless. And yes, I lost my water; but I gained so much more.
Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.
bethdlayton 