The weekend before Father’s Day, a severe storm passed over our lake, and touched down in several areas around us, causing extensive damage to many cottages, homes, outbuildings, piers and boats. Century-old trees fell or were uprooted and tossed all about. The water was full of debris, so green it looked like a grassy meadow you could walk on.
My husband drove to the lake to check on our tiny cottage. No harm to the cottage, she stood firm.
The water side of the property was a different story.
“This looks like a war zone; you won’t believe it…. all I can hear is chainsaws everywhere, it is constant! Neighbors helping neighbors, everyone’s working, cleaning, packing food in coolers, burning trash and debris, anything they can think of!” was the phone call I received from my husband.
Needless to say, we spent most of Father’s Day weekend, cleaning, raking the water of leaves, twigs and debris, picking large sticks out of my flower beds, and cleaning windows.
The windows and walls of our cottage had dried bits of leaves, grasses and dirt stuck all over, like a lumpy spray tan on the glass! I’ve never seen anything like that before, it was impressive. And easy to clean away, it just required CLEANING AWAY!
Suddenly, all of my summer plans and my wish list, my to-do list, didn’t seem so important, certainly NOT pressing as I looked at our pier, our little beach, and green water. We would be having little swimmers in the water for the July 4th holiday weekend, and this would not do. I was afraid they’d be stepping on sharp twigs and bark torn from the trees, it all seemed dangerous to me. And it just seemed like…TOO much!
I wasn’t the only one that felt that way, my husband and I were constantly cheering each other on, it’s just one more thing to do, just one more, just one more. One thing at a time!
I consoled myself by scheduling our porch remodel, actually setting a time and date for construction, and paying for the materials to be used. THAT made me feel normal again.
I chose a paint color for our porch floor, and we made a surprise purchase for our porch ceiling!
Remember when I was so excited about my “double doors” entry onto our porch? …well, it was vetoed, and I’m not too happy about it. With the storm and the clean-up, and seeing our neighbors without roofs or windows, boats and piers sinking in the lake, I choose to focus on gratitude instead of doors!
No Double Doors This Year…
With or without storms blowing through our lawns and our lives, friends let’s remember to remind each other, over and over, to choose to look for the good, for our blessings.
Look at this photo, the last photo…isn’t it amazing how much love one tiny cottage can hold? Untouched, and unharmed by the storm, she’ll be painted , cleaned and ready to party come this July!
Wishing you all a safe and wonderful summer,
Hugs!,
