thankfully warm

Today was one of those days. Although, to be fair, my feelings and thoughts about it have changed so frequently that now I just feel grateful to be home, washing my dishes and making french fries, all preparations for Thanksgiving put on hold a bit longer. As Samuel put it earlier, it was a fun adventure. But now it's not.

Our power went out this morning around 4 or 5 am and by the time I finally got out of bed at 8:00 am, all of the things I normally enjoy in the morning- heat, light, Internet, food, hot water- were long gone. It was so cold that my guinea pigs, usually morning larks like myself, stayed huddled in their igloos, concerned eyes looking toward me, barely coming out for their greens.

I took Samuel and Eva first to the pancake house for breakfast and coffee. Then we did a few errands, making light of the matter, taking advantage of the holiday feel of the day to peruse shops. When I checked in with the electric company, though, the estimated time for the power to be reinstated had been moved back a few hours. And that was the way of the day. We found another warm spot, drank more warm beverages, perused more warm stores. And the time was pushed back again. And again. Until finally it was late afternoon when we reached another warm, well lit place, packed with happy consumers, flush with the glow of the holidays approaching.

And then a call- one call from the electric company- and we packed our things immediately, without a backward glance, without buying more coffee, without perusing more objects. And we skipped and ran, giggling, back to the car. Never happier to be going home. Never happier to be immersing my hands into warm soapy water, finishing off a sink full of dishes. First delighted, then grumpy at the turn of events, turning a day that should have been filled with baking and good smells in preparation for tomorrow's feast, to one filled with cold hands and fussy children, tired of seeing shops, tired of smelling coffee. Hungry. Cold.

And my thoughts turned to things like generators and chargers and self reliance and irritation. For a brief time, I wondered at the gratitude that comes from deprivation, at the exercise that gratitude can become when we are taken out of our element and we must make do, even if just for a day, and it seemed fitting to have such gratitude the day before Thanksgiving, even if the other part of me sneered at the perfect poetry in this lesson and mocked the simplicity found there.

Still, I enjoyed washing the dishes. Am looking forward to a hot bath. Can't wait to continue to stay warm. And while it has been a day of looking at what I am grateful for in that deprivation-sort-of-way, it is also a reminder to me of the time I make each day to be grateful. And how what comes up for me each day is different than the next. And that today I am particularly thankful for heat and light and home.