March Gratitudes: A Dragon’s Toast
A Dragon’s Toast
And now, my friends, a dragon’s toast! Here’s to life’s little blessings: war, plagues, and all forms of evil. Their presence keeps us alert— and their absence keeps us grateful.
T.A. Barron
I found this quote recently and it seemed appropriate to share after being slammed by winter storm Uri recently. Cold and freezing rain and snow hit the Texas Gulf Coast like we haven’t seen in 30 years. That set off a domino fall of crises; power out for days, water system failures, empty grocery stores, four and five figure utility bills.
Yes, it’s been something else.
Granted, I’m not feeling especially thankful for that bout of weather, but I am thankful for things that I saw in the midst of the storm. Things like
- When he lost power, my middle son and his cats came to stay with us.
- Our derpy rescue dog frolicked with joy in the snow.
- Elderly relatives without whom relations had been rough came to shelter with us when their power/heat was out and bridges were mended.
- My eldest son who still had power, opened his home to other relatives who had lost power. Made me a very proud mama.
- A fridge full of leftovers turned into a lovely buffet table to feed unexpected guests for several nights.
- Second hand, hand-me-down, mismatched furniture pulled out/reclined to make warm comfortable places for everyone to sleep.
- An obscure streaming media platform provided my elderly relative hours of binge-watching entertainment, watching her all-time favorite TV show, a 1970’s vampire soap opera she hasn’t seen in many years.
So perhaps I’ll offer my own dragon toast. To Winter Storm Uri, we are grateful for your departure and also for the little thing we did not know you would bring.
At one time we lived in Texas. While my husband was stationed at Ft. Hood. Sorry to learn about all the tragic results of that storm. A cousin living there was smart enough to insulate their pipes so they didn’t have them burst when they froze.
1970’s vampire soap opera? You mean “Dark Shadows”? The mother of a childhood friend of mine watched that. I Never did, but your oblique mention fired that synapse. What a hoot!
Someone once asked, “What if you woke up tomorrow, with ONLY the items you were thankful for today?” Central heat, indoor plumbing, enough food, shoes, derpy dogs, friends, family, sunshine…. indeed, what would you have?
And you have my sympathies at the troubles caused by the storm and super-cold weather. It’s never fun to deal with nasty weather of any kind, but yes there can be surprise blessings, too.
We thought it was the worst storm event ever when in the early 2000’s (can’t remember the year and can’t find on the internet because of course every search brings up 2021’s storm event, for very good reasons,) an ice storm hit central Texas. I know it hit as far north as Dallas because my husband was stranded there after a business trip. We lived just north of Austin, in Round Rock. At the time Austin had no sand trucks or other winter snow removal gear. Semi-trucks were stranded in the area, and all up and down I-35 for days until it melted, and they were reportedly very angry. I was working at a small Dr’s office and responsible for the outgoing message that people would hear when they call and I had to change that message daily for at least two if not three days. By then the major roads were melting much better than tree lined neighborhoods, like our Doctor who lived in a beautiful area but accessible by some risky roads. Our neighborhood had ice covered roads for 3 or 4 days. I’m not sure the measurement but it was thick and darned hard to melt. Our neighborhood did not lose power thankfully. Austin started acquiring sand trucks before the next winter arrived.
Of course all this PALES in comparison to 2021’s storm. We still have friends in TX, neighbors in Round Rock, Austin, and Houston, where our son went to school and lived for 20 years. The friends he has there are very dear to us also. We were very worried. Our friends lost power, water, trees, plants, and posted pics of empty shelves at HEB. We miss HEB so very much, even 4 yrs after moving away. Poor us, ha! We’re very grateful they had the where-with-all to overcome what difficulties they had to endure, they all have the ability to repair/replace what was damaged. So many in TX don’t/didn’t.
You have had so many challenges in the past couple of years and I admire your faith, spirit, and attitude. Your gratitude list is lovely and even humorous. 😀 Mending bridges is indeed a huge blessing. God bless.
Definitely loved “Dark Shadows” when I was a child. The updated movie and series just isn’t the same as the original. Glad things worked out for you and the elderly relations. There is nothing like a crisis to help people see reality. Family is everything, especially in hard times.