We live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the East Coast… Tidewater Virginia. Beautiful summer weather— perfect for visiting the numerous beaches in our area. The problem is: we are also “on the radar” for any hurricane that races up the coast! We got hit the other day. Not hard… just a cat 1… but it was enough to knock down trees and power lines. As my wife and I sat in the dark early yesterday morning, it was apparent that I would have to get out our generator and gas it up.
Oops! The only gasoline I had was a small can for the lawnmower. Soooooo…. off I went in the car to search out a gas station that was open! I passed numerous places that were closed due to no electricity. I finally found a gas station that was open; but, so did a LOT of other folks! It felt like I was living in the late 70’s again with the Arab oil embargo causing gas shortages and looooooong lines at the gas pump! People were generally nice, and patient, and 30 minutes later I had 3 gas cans filled and on my way home.
Fortunately for us, it was only 4 hours later that our power company got our power restored and our lights (and AC!!!) were back on. Last night my wife said to me, “I love electricity!” I couldn’t argue with that!!!
Which brings me to my point: appreciate the small things! You never know when they might be taken away from you. How sad that we groaned and complained that we couldn’t use our oven. We couldn’t watch tv. All I could do was sit in front of the fan and read a book! Whiner…..
If you’ve followed me on this site for any length of time, you’ll know that one of the most important “sayings” that I emphasize is: ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING!!!
It’s amazing how much our attitude (our frame of mind) can affect everything we do. My wife and I both stopped and took a few minutes to think about the things that we are grateful for: the men/women who worked throughout the night to get our electric power restored. The folks who opened up their gas station so I could buy some gasoline. I even said a prayer of thanks for Thomas Edison… for coming up with the means of running current throughout a city!!! Our “attitude of gratitude” made for a great evening of rejoicing!
