Zero to Thirty -Thirty to Sixty - Sixty to Ninety

We are all in one of the above titled stretches of years - spans if you will.  And I can tell you with confidence that the view from 'sixty' to 'ninety is way different than the view in 'zero to thirty'  . and 'thirty to sixty'.

When I think of what I understand now as opposed to when I was say, twenty or forty, I am awe struck.   It seems that the first thirty years are gauged on learning and planning and  gaining an identity of self and choice and style, the second thirty is about being and doing and realizing and putting in to motion our life's quests and desires. The third thirty is a time of reaping the fruits of our choices, some ripened and sweet, some rotted and fallen, some perhaps still ripening but for the most part by the last thirty years we are who we are and we celebrate and regret and believe and doubt and know and wonder and surrender and fight and all from a centered place of self and truth and reality that has been developing for sixty years.  There are lines and ware and signs of aging, memories galore of sorrow, happiness, broken hearts, strengths, weakness, love, pain, health and sickness, children, family, -  friends have come and gone, and a few forever friends remain.

What's important has changed drastically - and whats hoped for has too.  I hope for another 30 years of love and health and peace and mobility with my guy Skipp.  I hope that MS does not take over. I hope that my children 'remember' and acknowledge family and faith and God.  I hope for a simple home with enough food and warmth to sustain and laughter and music and LOVE  in volume.  I hope for courage and strength and faith to face whatever lies ahead and I hope for joy in the simplest of miracles and nature's beauty and gifts in every day. I hope for hugs and smiles, tears and rage at injustice.  I hope to be remembered (closer to the ninety mark not sixty-phew.),  because I made a positive, loving and purposeful difference.  Amen.

An aluminum pie plate, a plastic watering can and our charcoal grill

And so we survived- perhaps even thrived, more or less.  A week with no electricity or running water!! Irene, despite her somewhat weakened status when she slammed in to Connecticut ravaged the coastline here. When we took a drive to 'see' the damage it was devastating, homes were lost, extreme flooding, trees torn up from their roots and power lines and utility poles snapped like twigs. Irene's wrath was evident, for sure.


And so we settled in to creative survival  mode. We (well, Skipp), hauled five gallon buckets of water from the brook in back which has a deeper spot to fill the buckets for flushing.   In the mornings we heated a big pan of water on the grill   which we mixed with brook water in our large watering can which has a lovely rain shower type spout. In just my underwear and bra I sat on a plastic seat whilst Skipp poured water over me and I washed my hair and other essential parts and then rinsed.  ahhhhhhhhhhhh, and then we re-filled and I poured warm water over Skipp while he "showered" as well.   Thank goodness our back deck faces the woods.  :-)  (sorry about the placement of these photos - blogger wont let me cut and paste them)  oh well!!  :-)

 We heated water for coffee and created a type of french press - it was delicious.  We cooked eggs in the aluminum plate and put sausage on aluminum foil and made toast and even waffles.  Breakfast was always so good.  Lunch was usually peanut butter and jelly and  for dinners we cooked everything we had from burgers to chicken to fish. Once all the perishablefood that we could safely use was cooked  we then  heated soups, stew, beans -  right in the cans!!  The nights were long - we played cribbage, trivia, scrabble by hurricane lamps and candles - and we sang and played guitar out on the deck with the torches lit.  It really was wonderful.

Oh we had our moments of "enough" and even snapped at one another from time to time!!  The toilet thing was the worst.  Our own personal 'systems' were all off as well - and the exhaustion from the steps necessary to eat or shower or go to the bathroom were, at times, quite overwhelming.  We talked each other down or up and made jokes and quickly balanced knowing that we had to keep on keeping on.  And we did!!   It was quite an adventure and a testament to our love, strengths, weaknesses, humanities, neighborly kindness and faith, yes faith!!

GOODNIGHT IRENE!!