Boy, what a day I had. Twelve hours of working the football jamboree! Can I tell ya? It's no fun to work over a hot fryer or grill cooking food when it's about 200 degrees outside and so muggy you're breathing wet air. Having an internal thermostat that tends to run on Warm anyway, added to a stadium filled with teenagers, and you get sweat dripping in your eyes.
Selling raffle tickets wasn't too bad, and when I cut up 6 bags of onions into thin rings to grill for burgers, at least I was sitting down. That our home team lost in the very last seconds of the game after running the first kickoff back for a touchdown in the first play was deflating for all the moms and dad who'd been out there working since noon.
Even with the loss and the running sweat and my onion-smelling hands, there are still things I'm grateful for, like working with great and generous people. We've made as many preps for hovering Hurricane Gustav as we can, the little school band of about 15 kids which one of my sons plays in did a valiant job with the Star Spangled Banner, and I got to take a break to go serve and eat supper with the men at one of our local shelters...always a great pick-me-upper! The 30 or so guys there loved the food and enjoyed visiting with us over dinner.
It's past midnight and my bed is crying for me. Please excuse any typos or bad sentence structure. Too tired to edit. I'm grateful for the coolness of my house and that I now get to go to sleep. Simple things, but things which many people do not have. (The shelter guys sleep on hard cots or bunks!) I will keep the many Gulf Coast evacuees traveling north and west away from the eye of the storm in thought and prayer tomorrow as our main Interstate switches to contraflow. It's just too hard to think of another Katrina coming toward us on the exact date of "her" third anniversary.
I'm grateful we have supplies and the means to flee should it become necessary.
Good night.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
9 comments:
I am thinking about all of you all "down there" with Gustav knocking at the door....and New Orleans certainly does not need that -- as an understatement. I've been worried about N.O. for so long - even as bad as Katrina was, it wasn't a "direct hit" and I worry worry with our New Orleans in a weakened state as it still is, that a storm coming through will...I can't even finish that sentence!
Hope you are resting well...
yikes. yes, what a day! i would imagine the anticipation of gustav brings a big loud buzz to everything, too. ugh.
Angie, I'm hoping desperately that Gustav doesn't arrive with force in that poor area that has still not recovered from Katrina. My heart breaks every time I think of the devestation. Good luck, godspeed and may your a/c work through it all!
PS I hate when I chop onions and then rub my eyes.
There are some good parts of the storm and recovery. A great chance to clean out freezer and cook outside. Always a pleasure. And a chance to talk to neighbors and friends.
Cooler weather is on the way soon.
yahoo.
Oren (FOA)
Thank you, girls. I slept late today. Grateful for that! *grin*
Oren, if the power gets knocked out, send a carrier pigeon my way to alert us if you break out the dutch oven for one of your prize winning cobblers!
It's so commendable that in the face of an impending hurricane, helping at the shelter, working that hot fryer, and, okay, peeling all those onions! you find gratitude. It's why I visit your blog, for inspiration like this. Sending good thoughts & prayers your way.
Thanks, Joanne, for the good words and storm prayers. We don't have some choices in life (lots of 'em sometimes), but we can choose how we see and enjoy things. Participating in this YOG has really reinforced that for me! Happy Saturday!
My internal thermostat runs warm, too, and all that football, heat, grill and onions would have done me in. We're just entering the high school years, I'm sure my days behind the grill are imminent.
Post a Comment