Believe it or not, I do like to look for the silver linings.

I can be a cranky son-of-a-gun sometimes….and I’m probably the first one to voice an opinion if something feels like a “rip off”….and I complain about stuff too much….and….

I better stop.

I’m making me sound like a jerk.

But….nonetheless….I do like a jolt of optimism and positivity every now and then.

I like expecting the good.

I was thinking about that, driving around in the slush and snow the other day, and wondered if pursuing gratitude was always a good thing?

Maybe being grateful for what I had was keeping me from pursuing what I needed?

I drove around a bit….pondering….trying to “keep it between the fenceposts” like my Dad used to tell me….and realized that “gratitude” didn’t equal “complacency”…..and then…. thought that maybe gratitude was the right word after all.

When I look for reasons to be grateful for the things that probably should be changed, I stick with the thing that needs fixing….and learn to enjoy it.

Maybe that’s not such a good thing?

I don’t really know.

I know that gratitude makes everything easier.

It makes “what is now” a lot more pleasant when I know that I should be grateful for it.

Maybe I should start with the most basic?

Basic…..like, “thankyou for my breathing”.

All the other details are extraneous wants when I concentrate on the most basic.

I should be grateful for the option of expecting and expressing gratefulness!

A “thankyou” on the exhale would keep me a lot more centered on things that make “me” more pleasant to be around.

Check this out! Did you know that there was more to the “serenity prayer” than what we usually say?

Serenity Prayer

Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

 

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.

“Reasonably happy”.

Man.

I wonder when we started expecting that it was some sort of birthright to be happy all the time?

Even “happy” at the expense of the people around us?

That’s an extreme….pretty selfish….but I see it happen from time to time.

Pretty crazy.

There is a need to recognize the things that could make our lives better.

I need to work at making my family’s life better and better….all the time.

But…while I’m trying to do that….I better be grateful….every day.

Gratefulness never gets in my way.

“that’s what the lonely is for” David Wilcox

Somehow, 12 inches is a major snowstorm.

3″ could be a major snowstorm if they never clear the roads.

It is all so relative, I guess.

Ahhhhhhh…..12″ is a lot of snow. It’s major.

Here’s a video that a YouTuber named “Auction Spring” shot of West Asheville on the 22nd. The caption on the video says, “Shot the morning of January 22nd 2016. At this point Asheville had 8″ of snow. Since the publishing of this video, Asheville has received over 10″ and counting. Thanks for watching!”

Snow’s some pretty crazy stuff.

(MAN!!! DRONES ARE PRETTY CRAZY, TOO!  WHAT COULDN’T I DO WITH A GOPRO AND A GOOD DRONE? I COULD TAKE PICTURES OF ALL SORTS OF CRAZY THINGS!!)

I drove into some goofy situations yesterday…trying to get the mail delivered….and, because of (necessary) time issues, didn’t even come close to finishing the route.

Some of these hills around here are pretty darn spooky when you’re sliding towards the edge.

I don’t like it.

And….it slows you down a lot when you have to get out of the Jeep to jump over drifts to get to the mailboxes all day.

You don’t realize how easy you have it when you’re reaching out to the mailboxes when it’s dry and sunny.

You just have to keep plugging away at it….deliver the packages….deliver the mail….enjoy the snow….don’t slide off anything that you’re not supposed to slide off.

All these videos….makes me wonder if we have too much time on our hands…

Check out this one that I found while looking for local snow videos….

The caption reads, ”

Live TV Female Reporter Eats Her Own Booger Mucus At Snow Storm Blizzard 2016 New York City!!!

What does that have to do with responsible reporting?

Why you gotta post something like that?

What’s up with YouTube….posting booger videos?

(Why did I re-post something like that?)

Here’s some of the news that we didn’t watch.

I think that we were watching cartoons.

It’s old news at this point.

Snow.

It’s a blast.

Man.

All the schools are closed.

I’m going to work to drive around on the ice.

Who came up with that Postal Creed, anyway?

But……WE DIDN’T LOSE POWER!!

NOT EVEN ONCE….NOT REALLY EVEN A FLICKER OF THE LIGHTS TO MAKE ME REALLY NERVOUS!!

That makes being snowed in kind of nice.

Being snowed in did make me consider cabin fever a little, though.

Maybe we’d get used to being snowbound if we were in a real “snowbound” situation.

We weren’t really snowbound, though…we just couldn’t hop in the minivan and drive to Greenville to get something to eat and hit all the thrift stores the kids could stand.

We just couldn’t do our normal routine.

We had a bunch of television….lights to read by…a dishwasher….hot showers….

We could go outside to play and then come in and get warm.

There was nothing all that hard about the situation.

And…we still were going a little bit stir crazy being cooped up by the weather.

What would it be like if we were really in a situation that kept us “down on the farm” for months at a time?

I guess that we’d get used to it.

I guess that these little kids would get used to it, too.

That’s really what it comes down to….keeping the little guys occupied.

They did like playing in the snow.

That was pretty fun.

It’s a good snow….now, a good ice….and I’m going to work.

It will be interesting to report if Jenny can go out again in the MINIVAN when I get back home.

Why’s a mailman gotta slip and slide?

That’s spooky.

Man….it’s snowing this morning and I have no confidence in Duke Power’s ability to keep my juices flowing….in the future.

I’m talking about the POWER, MAN!!! THE ELECTRIC IN THE WIRES!!! THE ELECTRIC!!

If this has published itself….automatically….a scheduled post to protect the sanctity of my daily run of blog posts….it means that we are without power…juiceless….snowed in.

How’s that for drama?

In reality, there’s nothing so dramatic about being without power in the mountains.

We’ll just put some more wood in the woodstove and light another candle.

The drag is not being able to rinse out the cloth diapers and not being able to watch SpongeBob on Netflix.

That’s when you miss the power.

So…if this post has appeared like some spectre from the past….that’s whats going on.

I don’t trust the electric.

It comes and it goes….without explanation.

“All these invisible threads that we weave…..think of electricity…”

“special delivery” Billy Mernit

I’m a pessimist.

When Duke Power warns me in an email that winter storms are hard…and that I should charge all my devices and stay away from sagging power lines, I wonder if they don’t expect me to be in the dark at some point.

So….I’ll set this to pop up tomorrow….when the power might be out…and…thereby….secure my OVER THREE YEAR RUN OF NEVER MISSING A BLOG POST!!!

WHOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Man….what a winter wonderland.