Lessons Learned

 As many of you know Hurricane Irene hit this area a little over a month and a half ago.  We actually made out great compared to what could have happened, but what we did have to deal with was the power outages.  Our power went out first thing Sunday morning and we did not get it restored until Saturday evening.  I took some time (in the day light) to write down some lessons learned through this ordeal:

~ First, one bathtub full of water will only provide enough water to flush toilets for a family of five for 2 days.  Should have filled up that second tub.

~Second, cleaning dishes outside in the fresh air is kind of refreshing!

~Third, the cell phone with data plan that we just purchased turned out to be a nice luxury, along with the battery operated iHome.

~ The time I spend on the internet on a daily basis really is way too much.  Life felt more full in the days without it.

~ The amount of water we use on a daily basis truly is wasteful.

~The stars are BREATHTAKING when all lights are out.  Praise be to the Creator.

~The people in this area do not stop or slow down.  The big corporations had all their employees expected back at work first thing in the morning, just hours after the storm calmed down.  No one with power, traffic lights down, trees blocking many of the roads, some families with structural damage to their homes, etc.  Would it have killed them to close for the day to allow ONE DAY for the state workers to have safe roads to clear things up or allow families to be together to asses the damage done or help those around them who may be in need?  I don't know, call me old fashioned, but it just seemed that they could have placed more value on community and the family rather than $$.

~In all seriousness I gained a great appreciation for some of the things I take for granted on a daily basis, like WATER for instance.  So many families around the globe do not even have access to water, or if they do it is unsafe to drink.  The worst I had it was 7 days without, and that's not even entirely true!  My parents live 15 minutes away (and only lost power for a few hours) & we drove their every day for water/bathing/cooking/etc. Some of the worlds poorest have to walk hours away just to fetch basket full of water, many children do this task and because of that can not participate in schooling.