… Hurricane Ian hit.
One year ago, right about the time I am posting this the eye was passing. The previous 4 hours had torn the back of the roof to shreds and removed everything in the backyard. Everything was gone. Now it was time for the backside of the storm to take out the front side.
I made a quick trip outside in the intermediate lull, only to realize it wasn’t over. Now it was going to get worse. The backside brought with it a 15-foot storm surge which had begun and would last for the next five hours. Thankfully the core structure seemed intact.
Taking a breath and realizing everyone would feed from my vibe, I said a prayer for mercy, retreated to the hunker down position and reassured.
Internally I knew a purposeful God was reminding me of my selfish insignificance. I knew things would be different tomorrow. I was watching the physical landscape where my youth unfolded, forever changed; much of it erased completely.
The trees which once held the swings and forts for youthful triumphs, felled by nature’s fury and soon thereafter turned to mulch. Their trunks and branches now landscape mulch for a coming McMansion; a person with no similar attachment.
And so it goes…. And so, it goes. An apropos metaphor for life, and a not subtle reminder that we are temporarily living it.
If my younger self had known a clock was counting down, perhaps the kid would have paused under the shade of the old banyans and thanked them. Then again, it really wouldn’t be childhood if we carried such weighty concerns. I am forever thankful I never carried that weight, and simultaneously today I cherish each breeze with a newfound appreciation for what I did not know.
It is easy to lose our sense of optimism. Retaining a joyful perspective while everything around us seems mad isn’t easy. However, if you accept that you can create something just a little bit better by making a choice, then you have accomplished a great deal.
If you are reading this, you likely had no idea how much your prayers and support carried me starting one year ago, tomorrow.
I am blessed and thankful. I cherish you.
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