Friends

Have you ever had been blessed with one of those friends that no matter what just seems to have the biggest heart?  My friend Wendy is like this.  She and I don't talk much - never have really.  Our relationship is all about cards and emails and texts.  We seem to be a set of kindred sisters - our pasts similar yet different and bonding us together.  She always provides me with light when I see nothing but darkness.  She finds a positive in everything and makes me laugh the whole time.  Her sincerity is so genuine that you can't help but know it's real.  Never a false act or phoney remark from this woman!  I cherish our friendship.  She sent me a coffee mug some time ago that I always use at home.  I wanted to share it with you.

Doesn't that just bring a smile to your face?  Knowing that someone would like nothing more than the pleasure of your company and a cup of your coffee? 

Friday night was one of the most interesting that I have experienced weather wise since being in Ohio.  The day was very warm - 100* on my drive home at 4pm.  Oddly, around 5:30 a line of clouds was forming to the north of us.  I wish I had been more alert and taken photos, but honestly I was fascinated.  By 6pm the front was directly over top of us and with it came the winds.  I'm not just talking a steady breeze.  I'm talking a hang-on-to-something-or-else-you-might-get-blown-away 80 mph gusts.  It was to say the very least - incredible.  The horses were inside their stalls but then moved outside of them and to the far end of the barn with their rearends facing the wind.  The barn blocked most of the direct gusts from them.  The dry dirt swirled and debris blew everywhere.  About 20 minutes into the storm we lost power and we didn't gain it back until about 1am.  The wind gusts continued for about an hour and then it rained briefly.  Nothing too tropical, but enough to soak the ground and make the air muggy.  No power meant no fans so the windows were wide open trying to catch a breeze.  Crocheting by lantern has it's challenges.  We went to bed early listening the baseball game on the portable radio.  We were awoken at 1am to the sound of Gretta Van Sustren's voice in our living room.  The TV came on.  The DH got up and turned off lights and such and we went back to sleep happy to have the ceiling fan. 

The next morning all was well and we thought our weekend would progress as planned.  We went to breakfast and right as we sat down at the bar the power went out.  We had a less than ideal breakfast.  The cook put together what she could for us luckily we had hot water for tea and a new pot of coffee had just been brewed.  We went home to find we were also without power again.  It was still early and not yet hot, so we just relaxed and made the best of it.  Around noon the power was back on, but our water pressure was very low.  We learned that a substation was down in a neighboring town due to the power outages all over Ohio.  The generator that was supposed to take over failed so the city was telling us we could be without water for 2-3 days.  Now that was a problem for people like us with horses - who drink 10 gallons of water a day.  So we began filling every container we could find with water and filled both our bathtubs as well.  We are on septic so could use the water to flush if the need arrived.  Saturday evening and night was spent uneventful.  Power stayed on and the water soon became barely a trickle, but we had managed to put aside quite a bit and felt good.  We went to bed around midnight and woke to both power and water.  A sub generator had been located and installed over night so water had been restored. 

We were lazy Sunday morning.  We were just finishing breakfast burritos around 9am when the power went out again.  We simply hunkered in.  I had my crochet out and was sitting next to a window.  The DH was reading the paper at another window and the portable radio was playing in the background.  By noon the power was back on and as of this morning was still on.  I know there are quite a few people out there still with no power and water.  I have them in my thoughts and prayers.