Thursday, December 30, 2010

Well…so much for best-laid plans. Yesterday, I decided t take the day off and not worry about posting that day’s blog until early this morning. But Mother Nature had other plans. All day yesterday, it stormed were my family and I are vacationing. Then last night, the storm went from bad to worse, the Internet being knocked out in the process.

It poured rain yesterday, soaking anyone who dared to venture out into the mess. And the wind blew with a fury that churned the ocean until it looked like a boiling foaming cauldron. There were massive wave sets lined up five deep, each worthy of surfers catching them.

By the time everyone but my oldest son, his girlfriend and I had turned in for the night, the wind had bumped up quite a few notches, threatening to blow our patio umbrella and table over the edge of our balcony. The only things keeping that from happening were the arms of one of the chairs that the table leaned heavily against.

Now, I’m not sure about most, but I prefer meeting my neighbors by knocking on their door and saying introducing myself rather than shouting “sorry” through their shattered window, my patio umbrella’s impaled. So…my son and I worked together to place the table on its side to pull the umbrella out. Had we opted to remove the umbrella with the table standing upright, I had the worst feeling the wind would catch it, yanking it from our hands and sending it straight through the neighbor’s picture window.

Just as my son and I reentered the house, pleased with ourselves for saving the umbrella without incident, one of the kitchen windows blew open. It’s older, hinged on one side, with a latch that doesn’t always catch just right. With the wind, it rattled loose, banging back and forth. My son bolted across the living room into the kitchen, fearing that he wouldn’t make it in time to keep the glass from shattering. But luck was again on our side, and all was secured without drama.

By then, it was the wee hours of the morning, and we were exhausted, wondering how everyone else in the house was managing to sleep through the howling wind and driving rain. We made one more check to ensure that everything was in good order prior to tuning in for the night, snuggling way under the covers.

This morning, though the rain had long ceased with everything now dry, we discovered that the Internet had not withstood the storm, thus the delay in getting yesterday’s blog posted. It’s taken most of today, but the Internet is finally up and running.

Yeah!

So, what have I learned from this? Don’t delay in doing something when you have the chance, for one never knows what curve balls might be thrown their way, making what should be simple tasks turn into fiascos.