“I didn’t have expectations for this,” she said this morning as we awoke to a world with no electricity. 

She’s eight and a planner and a world with sudden change sometimes leaves her feeling powerless…  

“It’s good practice for life,” I told her.  

“Good practice for when life hands you circumstance’s you simply cannot change.” 

Circumstances you’d never choose for yourself.

“We’re going to have to use our imaginations today,” I said excitedly through gritted teeth. 

Because I know as sure as I’m standing here, that by noon, I could be white knuckling this armchair, trying to keep from running through the quad in my birthday suit.  

******

It is now evening and the good news is, we’re making it!  The even better news is, we like it! 

What’s wrong with a snow day (or four) once in a while?  Who said life with technology is a better life?  

Now before you go rolling your eyes — NO.  I’m not living the high life right now.  I’m still one of the 22,000 without power.  I’m still sitting in the pitch black, typing and praying my battery will last at least through the editing phase.  

Our celebratory weekend trip was cancelled and the tree sitting directly beside my house has severed because of the ice.  My fireplace hasn’t been used since before Sam was born. So — we have no heat except for a little gas wall heater that seems to be the equivalent of Jesus feeding the five thousand. 

I’m not sure how it’s feeding this entire house heat, but it is…

Earlier today, I stared out the window, surveying the beautiful, white scene.  It was glorious really; having my senses ignited by sounds I don’t normally hear and sights I don’t normally see.

And It came to me; a power outage doesn’t mean you’re ever truly without power… 

Normally, bustling engines drown out the sound of icicles dripping along my walkway and Disney + typically dilutes the ticking-clock, tucked away just across the room.  

The sound of one-breath-in, one-breath-out, has me appreciating that I can actually breath on my own and the soft, plush blanket laid gently over my lap has me grateful for the finer, warmer things in life.     

Outside these snow-clung windowpanes lies a world frozen. 

The snow…it’s like a beautiful, light-weight coat, placed delicately on the trees.

But the ice…it’s a cruel task master — adding weight to the already bent and broken. 

These bent and broken tree limbs look so much like the bent and broken humans I’ve encountered this past year… truth is, winter was already happening, before winter even came.

But the winter is necessary and the quiet is needed. And the ones who don’t know so, are the one’s missing it all.   

There are thoughts to be thought and writings to be written. And while we look for hidden words in our puzzles and searches, we’re finding hidden remnants of life in times past.

We’re finding things bent, can actually be remolded and we’re finding things broken, can actually be remade. 

And the thing about ice, is that it will preserve.  And the thing about hardship, is that it will sustain.

And despite the power outage, we will be ok.  And despite the plan change, we will still be celebrating. And regardless of this year, like the trees, we’ll emerge.   

******

She’s eight and she’s a planner and a world with sudden change leaves her powerless no more.