Lingering Effects

A few hours after my last post, we lost our phone and internet service. I'm not complaining, however because we maintained power and there are others (my sister-in-law included) who STILL don't have power!
Its been a real lesson in the things that we take for granted. Electricity being one. But, beyond that - we take for granted the ability to drive the local grocery store and buy food. Or to the gas station at the corner and buy gas. Seriously. How many times do we stop and think about these conveniences? How often do we even consider them conveniences? Typically, these are chores, but this past week, I realized what a privilege they really are. Even traffic signals. A nuisance most days, but without them, its difficult to get anywhere in a timely fashion!
The sight of aisle after aisle of empty shelves in the grocery store - and an entire meat department empty will be forever etched in my mind.
So will the line at Starbucks. I had to laugh as we were buying what food we could in case we ended up with lots of company since we were one of the few with power - and the line for Starbucks inside the grocery store was OUT THE DOOR! We do have our priorities as Americans don't we? Don't get me wrong - I love a good Starbucks as much as anyone - it was just the irony of it all that stood out. We can manage without electricity, but not without coffee!!

Today, I walked into Jake's room where he was playing with the girls and asked what they were up to. Jake said, "We're pretending our rooms are our houses and I'm letting the girls have a sleep-over at my house since they don't have electricity." I had to laugh! It was just too cute!