November 21, 2013

• Where I bore you with minutiae

  Time for another catching-you-up-on-my-life post! It’s been kinda crazy around here lately. Not the normal craziness of running around to all my regular activities and trying to learn the harmonies and choreography to my barbershop chorus’ Christmas repertoire (at which I am failing abysmally). No, the craziness lately has been caused by Mother Nature.

  That same storm system that caused so much damage and suffering in Illinois also moved through my area of southwest Michigan on Sunday afternoon. At our house, the storm knocked a few small branches out of the trees and tipped over our garbage can a couple of times. The ‘Duh is about five miles from Lake Michigan which, during the Veteran’s Day lake effect snowstorm meant we got a foot-and-a-half of snow dumped on us.  Sometimes, however, being five miles inland means that storm systems coming across the lake lose steam before they get to us or, as in this case, are pushed around us by air currents over the lake.

  Communities along the lake shore were not so lucky. There were widespread power outages caused by the storm. In Michigan, in November, power outages mean many, many people without heat. Because even if you have a gas furnace, your thermostat most likely needs electricity to turn the furnace on. The local Red Cross chapter has been very busy this week. Monday afternoon is when I usually volunteer to cover the reception desk at the chapter. It was pretty crazy that day. A shelter was opened at the chapter, but most of the people in the outage areas didn’t want to drive the ten miles to have a warm place to sleep and a hot meal. I think they wanted us to open shelters in their neighborhoods, but their neighborhoods had no electricity so… yeah… that wasn’t going to work. But just try explaining that to an upset person on the phone who wants the Red Cross to pay for motel rooms for their family and replace all the food in their refrigerator. Sigh. That’s okay, I can take it.

  I came home after that busy afternoon and had just enough time to make supper and eat before leaving for barbershop rehearsal, at which I sucked. Hopefully the next rehearsal will go better. Our first Christmas gig is coming up soon. I think we have eight gigs in December, mostly at area nursing homes and retirement communities. I’ll probably finally get all the songs figured out by the eighth performance. I’m making no promises about the choreography, though.

  So that was a pretty normal Monday for me, although busier than usual during my volunteer time. Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny day. I went to the tai chi class at the library up the road in The ‘Ville and when someone commented on the beautiful weather, I said, “Yes, I have no excuse not to rake today. It’s not snowing, it’s not raining, it’s not windy and it’s not even cold!” I was determined to get at least the backyard raked that afternoon, but first I had a couple of errands to run. While I was out, I got a message from the Red Cross office that they needed volunteers to come out and help move the shelter from the chapter to a church up the road. So off I went to load my van with cots and blankets, bottles of water and totes filled with toys and coloring books. And then unload all that stuff and carry it up the world’s longest ramp, and set up a few tables, and make another trip to get the snacks that didn’t get put in the van on the first trip… By the time I got home, I was too tired and it was too late to rake.

  Wednesday morning, I was committed to raking the backyard. I got up, threw on some clothes, put on my hiking boots, grabbed an old pair of gloves, and spent a couple of hours working up a good, honest sweat. There were seven large piles of leaves in the backyard when I went in to take my shower and change clothes before meeting some friends for a long overdue lunch and catch-up on each other’s lives. When Brett got home that evening, he and I raked each pile of leaves onto a tarp and hauled it to the front yard, dumping the seven piles into one humongous pile at the edge of the street. We then raked the front yard and finished just before the leaf truck came down the street and sucked up our mountain of leaves. And then I went to the pool for water aerobics.

  Let me just recap: Tai chi, loading the van, unloading the van, setting up tables, raking leaves, hauling leaves, water aerobics… Can you say, “Owwww?” I am so sore.

  Today the Red Cross closed their shelters, but there was still one mobile home park down the lakeshore that didn’t have their power restored yet. I was asked to drive about 50 miles away and pick up an ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle) so we could deliver hot meals to that neighborhood this evening.

  

  Volunteers had already taken breakfast to the park residents and arrangements had been made for lunch. I was about 20 miles up the road when I got a phone call to turn around and come back; power had been restored and we wouldn’t need the ERV.

  So I came home and made cookies. That’s a pretty good way to end a crazy week and a long story.

  

  Oatmeal cookies, with butterscotch chips. Because I know you were going to ask.

   

  • 3:09 pm
  • 8 Comments