I was going to write a new post this past Sunday, but Hurricane Irene intervened and we had no power for 28 hours, so there went my plans! But, at least I was able to finish painting my Little-Apartment-on-the-Pond. I’m very glad to have that project behind me, and my redecorating to rid the place of ex-husband cooties is almost complete. I just have to replace the entry and stairway rugs, stained as they are with greasy foot prints because he could never manage to remove his boots when he came home from work.
Irene was only a tropical storm by the time she reached us, and we were lucky enough to be on the dry side of the tempest but it was very windy. We had sustained winds of about 45 to 55 miles an hour with frequent gusts between 70 and 80 miles an hour, and about a quarter inch of rain. My dog had to make his usual trips outdoors, but we had to forgo our daily hike in the woods. As it was, I kept an eye to the sky as we walked around the neighborhood, what with tree branches and utility wires looming over-head. Thankfully, the worst thing we encountered during the walks was the wind-born debris that pelted us, causing us to squint and try to shield our eyes. The last outing was at about 11pm, and by then, our power had been out for 13 hours, so the puny light of my flash light and the brilliant pin-pricks of stars that showed from between the clouds were the only relief from the darkness. The storm still raged unabated, but stars shined on; I was surprised to see them, and, somehow encouraged; it was sure to mean that the storm would be over, soon.
I’m also hoping that my personal storm will be over soon. There have been no more harassing emails since I instructed my ex not to email anymore unless he needed a signature or to get something out of the garage. You’d think it would be easy to forget him, but for some unpleasant reason, he’s now haunting me in my dreams, or should I say nightmares. I’ve had consistent nightmares about him since we split up, but they’ve become more pronounced lately. Last night’s dream was particularly odd (odd enough for me to remember it) in that not only was the ex stalking me, but a man in a suit came to my door; much like the well-known guy who arrives with balloons and a giant check to give to a sweep-stakes winner, except that this guy had a framed certificate. He announced that someone had won the prize for being “The Most Wounded“. (????) And I told him he was at the wrong house, never thinking he could mean me. Then he said my name and showed me the certificate, with my name printed on it and tried to hand it to me; “You take the prize! You are “The Most Wounded!” I didn’t want to accept it from him and told him that there’d been some mistake. At that point, the dream was so disturbing that I woke up, as though I was trying to escape from it. But how bizarre! I wondered (and still wonder) what does it mean? Is my brain trying to tell me that I’m in denial about how much the defection of my husband and my divorce has hurt me? I’ve made no bones about the fact that even after all these months, I am still shocked and devastated, but I am coming through it okay and I am basically whole. Somewhat traumatized, but fine. Definitely not “The Most Wounded“; I have much in my life to be grateful for and I never lose sight of that fact.
Storms may come and go, but like the stars, I intend to keep shining on.
Photo of moon through tree leaves.
Sea Change For Me 
So glad to hear you survived Irene all right. Now, let’s hope that silly Katia doesn’t give you any trouble. We’re just on the edge of Lee’s winds – no rain to speak of, but about 30 steady and a few higher gusts. Nothing particular.
Glad to hear your rennovation projects are about done. Isn’t it fun? The clock guy came and got mom’s clock running on Friday, but it’s stopped again, after about 60 hours. I’m a little distressed, because I’d gotten used to it and miss it already! But, there’s a year’s warranty, so it’s just a matter of getting them back to fix up whatever needs adjusting. I can’t think it’s much, since it ran well for such a long time. Clock Dude will know. 😉
I’m trying to get around to visit everyone today – I’ve been pretty far behind on my blog reading, to say the least. And I’ve got a bunch of projects I want to do, so it’s going to be a busy weekend. Hope yours is great!
Linda; How nice to see you here! Yes, Irene left us without power for a while and made a general nuisance of herself, but other than some precariously leaning trees and branches and salt-burned brown leaves on the trees, we are fine. I hope that Katia behaves while she’s in the neighborhood. I believe that she’s supposed to be a Fish Storm.
I’m glad that the redecorating is more or less done, too. It is fun to see my Little-Apartment-on-the-Pond be transformed from a brown cave to a light and airy home. I finally replaced the ugly, grease stained entryway carpet, recovered two dining room chairs and washed & waxed the wood floors this weekend, so I can cross a few more things off my project list. I also cleaned out my vegetable garden after it was flattened by TS Irene, tidied the garage and cleaned out the back of my little truck, too.
It’s too bad that the clock stopped running so soon! I know what you mean about missing it; I have a ship’s bell clock in my living room and it’s been repaired several times and I’ve really felt it’s absence when the silence isn’t broken by its gentle ticking and chiming of the hour and half-hour. I hope that the Clock Dude gets it figured out before too long!
Sammy & I have been enjoying our daily hikes in beautiful, but windy weather recently. The sound of the wind allows us to catch wildlife unawares, since they aren’t as likely to hear us approaching over the noise of the brisk breezes. We often come upon that silly flock of turkeys and while they don’t seem particularly alarmed by our presence, they also don’t seem very keen on Sammy’s enthusiasm for their company. He just loves other animals and wants to play with them all. But, then maybe they saw what he did to Mama Turtle when she came up from the pond to lay her eggs. Turtles are a great favorite of his; they are so much fun, because they hide in their shell and it’s an intriguing guessing game to try to figure out which part of the turtle will emerge from it’s shell, next. Sammy becomes very excited every time he sees a turtle and when we came along poor Mama Turtle, digging her hole to lay her eggs, Sammy laid down on the ground next to her, and then, in a show of affection, he rolled back and forth over her several times, until I managed to drag him away. The turkeys are big birds, but no doubt, they do not want to frolic with Sammy. A few days ago, we surprised a coyote who had probably been taking a quiet snooze; Sammy wanted to play with him, too, but like most of the other critters, the coyote ran off in alarm. Poor Sammy.
I’m a bit behind in my blogging and corresponding, too. I don’t have the holiday off, tomorrow, but I’m planning a light work-load (4 articles) so that I can spend sometime catching up.
Thanks for stopping in and I hope that your weekend is fabulous, too!