AuburnChick's Adventures

It’s Sunday evening, Gambit is snoring, and I’m finally at a point where my brain is slowing down.

Today truly was a day of rest.

When I woke up, my hosts’ dogs were running around the property, so I left mine inside.  T came out at one point, and we began to chat while her son’s precious new puppy, Trump, scampered around.

Check out his adorable name tag.

I do believe that the fix for a sad heart is a puppy.  This one was full energy and quite a bit of curiosity.

Trump was cuteness overload and a welcome distraction, if I do say so myself – especially when he nipped me with his puppy teeth!

One of their other dogs, Jasper, loves to chase a ball.  He was a lot of fun to watch.  Check out this video (that’s me throwing the ball) . . .

We stayed poolside for quite awhile before T put her dogs up so mine could come out.

Gambit was all about exploring and ventured out of the fence before I could stop him.  Pele followed and played like he was deaf, completely ignoring my warnings to come back.  So, I chased them for almost a quarter mile, nearly lost Gambit, but found him when I saw a flock of ducks take off.

Ahem.

Gambit got his energy out and contritely walked back with me to the house where I kept a close eye on him.

I ran a couple of errands because Pele still wasn’t eating this morning.  I needed to find something to get him going.

I took a short video as I pulled back up to the house.  I am a country girl at heart, and this place has fed my soul with restorative healing that only God can provide through faithful servants such as these extremely kind friends.

Thankfully, all it took was some baby carrots and dog food pouches.

After their treats, the dogs were ready to head back outside; Pele even beat me down the stairs.  He scared me silly because his legs aren’t working quite right, but his smile was everything.

I set up shop by the pool in front of the outdoor fireplace/TV area.

The weather was divine – not too hot and not too cold.

I called N, my daughter-in-law, and caught up with her.  She was the only person in the family I had not spoken with since all of the crazy started happening.

I watched last week’s episode of Survivor on my laptop, but mostly I just chilled.

The dogs and I will become nomads again tomorrow, so I knew that we needed one more day to be still.  They’ve been nervous with us changing locations every few days, so having one place to stay grounded has helped all of our nerves.

T came out mid-afternoon, in between her household chores, and chatted awhile.  I have absolutely loved her company.  She’s down to earth, humble, and has a quick sense of humor.  She’s been a balm to my uneasy soul – a true gift from God.

I did repack my clothes in preparation for the next leg of our journey.  It was a good chance to take stock of what I’d grabbed the night I ran away from the storm.

T and L invited me to eat dinner with me.  Y’all, you know you’ve met your kind of people when their idea of a good dinner is a prepared chicken from the grocery store and leftover lunch (for me . . . sesame tofu).  It wasn’t fancy, but it was comfortable, and I felt like family.

The latest update from the Mr. is that they think they may have water in a couple of days.  There are still breaks in the lines, so they are trying to locate those and make repairs.  They are also still testing the water.  When I asked about the sewer system, he sounded hopeful about that as well.  They have to restore power to the lifts, which are used to pump waste out of the system.  That’s something they may do manually until power returns.  It’s still a work in progress.

He did tell me that if I go home, I need to be prepared to sweat.  It’s hot.  It’s Florida.  It’s only October.  We have a couple of people who will loan us generators, but they aren’t strong enough to run the AC – only the fans, lights, and the fridge.

Traffic is a nightmare.  He said that it takes three hours to go a couple of miles because people are either looking for supplies or trying to get out of town.

In other words, it’s still bad.  The decision to go home is fraught with mostly cons and not a lot of pros.

This is definitely one big roller coaster ride.  Every single day brings new emotions.  Last night was hard because the news was still so dire.

Today was much better as I saw that Gulf Power hopes to have ALL electricity restored by the 24th of this month.  Even the Mr. sounded better when we talked, so I’m hopeful that I can go home sooner rather than later.

I saw pictures on Facebook – photos of my church having a service this morning.

Though the building is heavily damaged, as is every single church in town, God is still present because the church isn’t a building at all.

It’s the people.

I saw that other churches had services as well.  What a beautiful testimony to God’s grace and provision.

Things are still so hard, but in the midst of all of it, there is so much more to be thankful for.

The quick messages on Facebook from other teachers makes me miss them SO MUCH.  There’s a lot of love out there.  As one of my friends said, “We will all be together soon my friend.”

I’ll be honest with you.

Before this hurricane hit, I was more than frustrated.  About almost everything.  I had such a sour attitude.

Much of that has changed now.

Perspective is everything – a lesson I guess I must be slow to learn because I keep being retaught it.

This is my view tonight.  It screams serenity and peace.

Thank you for your prayers.  I am 100% positive that God is hearing and answering them.

The progress that is being made is truly miraculous; the outpouring of help has been phenomenal.

Please keep praying.  There is still SO MUCH that needs to be done.  Almost everyone I know has been displaced.  Most people have damage to their homes.  There’s not a single person who hasn’t been affected.

Thanks you guys!!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: Hurricane Michael |