Save the Food

We finally have electricity!  One does not quite ever realize how much we are dependent upon something until it is gone. I had one of those "duh" moments on Thursday afternoon when the electricity shut off, and then a bigger “DUH” when Friday morning rolled around and we still did not have it! ……Hmm, what to do with the food, especially since we had just stocked our fridge with all sorts of healthy salad fixins’, fresh veggies and fruit!  Well, we could’ve had a party, but at 6:30 a.m. but I wasn’t sure how many of our friends would have come over for a veggie feast at that time of the day!  After praying that our electricity would be back on before the estimated date of next Saturday or a faraway as Tuesday… “Tuesday”-are you kidding me I thought- 5 days of no electricity???… I did the next best thing.  I had to SAVE THE FOOD!

I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 –“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  God has blessed me, for I have hope and a future with Him being at the head of my life.  He also has generously blessed me with a mind that likes to wander all over the place thinking up ways to do things, to plan and create, to dream and to press forward to make life around me fun and lighthearted. I even can usually accomplish things when all is said and done!  I love planning and coming up with ideas. I wonder if it is a good consequence of being an only child?

SO, I hatched a plan to save the food!  I quickly thought of the possibilities……Our soon to be new neighbors (across the heavily wooded ravine about ¼ mile away) are having a house built.  Every day for the last few weeks, the workers have used a generator to get power!  Hmm…would I dare run a bright orange extension cord and beg for a lonely socket, as one would ask a neighbor for a cup of sugar?  I would even take some gas over too!  Nice idea, but just not practical or safe because it would take 1320 feet of extension cords…and yes, I did the math too!  On a side note, Man would be so proud of me because I rarely involve math in my plans.  I just ask him and he is instantly able to give me the needed facts.  My brain can’t be bothered with numbers because it is so full of ideas! 

NEXT idea…..After a morning call to my Alpha Rents, they were ready to bring up their generator and keep the freezer and fridge running. Alpha Dad went so far as to get his shoes on and start to hitch up the trailer while Alpha Mother and I devised a fool-proof plan right down to getting the most nitty out of the gritty!   I love my parents SO much!!!! They are always there for us and everyone else!  After much discussion and thought, a generator did not seem practical, especially with the possibility of a 5 day wait for electricity to be restored.  Moving the food seemed easier at the time.   

After 5, yes FIVE, hours of playing food shuffler and moving our fridge and freezer contents from here to there all around Bradford, Tioga and then finally to Lycoming County, all the goodies ended in my Alpha Rents fridge, and in my English Sis's spare freezer.  My family is the best!  Thanks sis for being so fabulous anyways, having a spare freezer and storing my frozen goodies.  For lands sake, she agreed that we CANNOT lose the wonderful deer and hormone-free beef (from Sis's farm no less) plus homegrown frozen corn and fresh-picked blueberries.  Oh, and then there is the cake! That is a story in itself.

Being a second generation "I can wrap that tighter than a drum and it will last forever in the freezer Princess,"  because you see Alpha Mother is the Queen, I was only a tad bit concerned that R&J's frozen wedding cake topper would be slightly thawed as I arrived at the targeted destination.  You see, last year after their beautiful April wedding, I lovingly wrapped their delicious cake topper with 82 miles of plastic wrap, and for an extra dose of protection, secured it with 28 various plastic bags.(Really now it's just recycling the bags right?)  Yup, no freezer ice monsters would ever dare try to attack that!  Ahh…memories…back to the saga of “save the food”… I called R&J on the way to freezer destination and shared my dilemma through a voice message.  They texted and said they had confidence in my caretaking abilities when it came to their topper.  I had a very small moment of glee at that text! Thank you for your trust with the topper.  You may be thinking, get to the point because you just want to know…”Did the newlyweds cake topper make it to the new freezer in its still frozen-form ?”  Absolutely, and nary a dent or smoosh either!  R&J’s topper is nestled safely on the top of all the other frozen goodies.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  Mission accomplished.  Ahhhhh…Big sigh of relief.

Driving through another storm on the way home Friday was almost fun.  Family Life Network was giving a storm warning for Lycoming County for the next hour.  Winds were reported to be about 60 miles per hour.  The trip was uneventful, yet scary when some ill-advised drivers flew by doing what appeared to be 80 mph compared to a long line of us informed and cautious 45 mph drivers.  The upside was that Rav4 had a free power wash and was almost shining when I arrived home!  The sky was a hue of colors, mostly grays and blues with a little black thrown in.  Probably the two best parts of that storm were: 1.) that cool fresh “rain smell” that happens during and after a storm, and 2.) the cool air coming in from the vents was lovely-remember, no air conditioner. How beautiful our little house looked when I drove up the lane; still in one piece, some tree branches and leaves scattered in the yard, even the wood pile that shifted and had fallen over during Thursday’s storm looked quaint! The seesters greeted me with their squawks and clucks as I shut off the engine.  I no more than walked inside when I heard a humming that wasn’t there when I left 5 hours earlier.  I walked over to the fridge and thought I heard it working. Really? It's working-we have power?  Am I going Koo-Koo?  NO need to answer that please-it was simply rhetoric!   Funny how the mind plays tricks on you!  For instance, how many of us believe we feel the vibration of our cell phone in our pockets, but when we reach for it, it is not even in there! Me too! 

So about the fridge… surely it wasn’t Tuesday already…..Nope, it seemed Tri County electric has some fantastic men and women out there working 24/7 trying to restore power to all those in need.  We were not in a terrible need, but certainly feel blessed to have power restored quicker than was originally thought.   There were over 5,000 who suffered outages.  I can truly appreciate how hard these folks work because MBFAM, my brother from another mother (my pet name for him as he related by love and not DNA) works for an electric company.  MBFAM tirelessly works even on his time off to help restore power to those without. He is amazing!

Again, a reminder to never take something for granted. Look around at the simple beauty that surrounds you.  It is there by the bucketfuls.  We have plenty up in our neck of the woods.  At the end of the day when all was said and done-through the laughter and drama I continue to praise the Lord, for I am still…~SO Blessed!