Monday, May 9, 2016

MOTHERS and LINEMEN


Mother’s Day started out with a power outage, and little if any sleep... over night here at our house. My hubby and I had just finished watching the movie The Intern with Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. We were going to get online for a little while before heading off to bed, so I could post a Mother’s Day story. BUT apparently... outside in the wilderness that is our backyard... the Powers that Be... had other plans. A line fuse blew open near the transformer creating a bit of a fireworks display and a surge. When this happened... POWER was cut to all the neighbors on our side of the street, and to the street lights across the highway. It was overcast from a week’s worth of rain... and you could not see a star, or even the moon... up in the sky. It was pitch black. So, my husband called in the outage to the power company. Access to our property and the transformer is tricky so my husband had to wait for the power company guy to get here. His job was to assess the situation before calling out a crew.  It was treacherous walking out back in our jungle of trees and bushes, to the pole, with my hubby’s hand held flashlight.  But this fella had a powerful spotlight in hand, to help guide the way.  My husband showed him where the transformer was… while I sat on the front porch enjoying the cool night air. The next thing I know... I hear some LOUD bangs going POP POP POP.  Husband said a mini fireworks display lit up the yard.  Standing on the ground trying to take care of business, the lineman had dropped a metal fuse link and assembly… while attempting to reset the fuse on the transformer. This caused a short circuit making the situation worse.  He had a problem. So he made a call to get some backup. They immediately sent out a crew of guys to work on it. It was now 4 am. Not exactly the Mother’s Day I envisioned. They told us to go try to get some sleep, they’d fix it in the next three or four hours. So... my hubby and I headed inside to do just that. As we settled in... comfy cozy under the covers, suddenly we hear chainsaws buzzing. They needed to chop down foliage that was in their way, blocking access... so they could string a new line to the transformer... to get everybody’s lights and power back on.  Sleep did not come easily from all the ruckus out there... until after 7 am. And then... for just 45 minutes, because we were scheduled to meet the grandchildren, and my daughter... for an early breakfast, out of town.  Life has taught me, things do not always turn out the way you plan. But you have to learn to roll with the punches. I knew sleep would come later. I enjoyed the family meal... delighted by hugs, kisses and conversation from  my grandchildren and daughter. Seeing them is a special treat, for sure. 

(you get to see the food not the grandchildren 
or daughter 
because we are respecting their privacy 
about not  having their pictures online)

The pretty GLASS BALL terrarium with Orchid you see pictured at the opening, set the mood for the rest of the day, bringing a smile to my face. The last orchid I had was in a corsage when I was a teenager. Isn’t this one cool?  I LOVE it. But the sentiment behind the sweet painting of roses pictured below, (so that I’d always have a bouquet to look at), touched my heart too. 


Dinner later sealed the deal, making this a truly wonderful Mother’s Day.


But I must admit…  I was exhausted and felt every year of my age. I hit the bed, the second I walked through the door, when we arrived back home, at 7 pm. "It’s been , been a long day." Hope moms everywhere had a fantastic day however you celebrated.  And thanks to the guys who got me back online with the POWER I needed to post.