Meaningful Moments

This week has passed in a wintry blur of frozen tree limbs hanging to the ground building igloos underneath.  For a week the weather predictors promised ice and rain, but since when do we put a great deal of credit in their exuberance to share diabolical weather conditions?

We felt the sting of winter and our trees bent and broke before our very eyes. 

In those my moments of awe at Mother Nature's power, I found some amazing moments. 

I love zinnias and enjoy watching the birds freely scatter the zinnia seeds from year to year. They may pop us anywhere in our gardens bringing a smile to my face and the hum of insects exploring their red, pink, violet, burning orange, or yellow petals. With this ice storm I discovered their beauty encased in ice. Isn't nature amazing?

Along with the shock of the ice storm came the experience of waiting in line to vote early at the Fairgrounds. I really don't know what we expected to see at 8:00 in the morning with a cold blustery damp rain falling, but it sure wasn't the line already wrapped around the building on the outside! Being the problem solvers that we are, we drove over to IHop and ate breakfast. Still not believing a line in the weather, we drove by the Fairgrounds and moaned. The line was even longer. 

By noon the weather changed and the sun came out. It seems like another few hundred or thousand people made the same choice. We stood in line from 12:24pm until we voted at 2:35pm. 

I am proud to be an American, and even more proud  that our crowd of people from our county all wore masks, displayed no abusiveness, no arguments, nothing negative. In fact, I enjoyed people watching. Amazing how we all seem to blend as thoughtful caring human beings. Each and every person felt a duty to vote and not make a scene. 

  I'm Proud to Be an American by Lee Greenwood (click here to listen to the music)

And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died

Who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up next to you

And defend Her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt

I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A.

There is still nothing better than neighborhood friends who step in to help in times of need, and we all need help from time to time. Thank you Charley and Debi for helping us to save one tree in the front yard, by cutting down the damaged hanging tree. 

After several hours of labor over two days, the tree is down and stacked all around the yard. We finished off the night with pizza and a few adult beverages. Cheers! We are thankful for meaningful moments in life.