Gratitude

Weather here has been CRAZY the past week: heavy rain, massive thunder and lightning, hail and actual, literal tornadoes touching down almost every afternoon. TORNADOES! This is Colorado, people, and not the Nebraska part of Colorado either. Thankfully, we haven't had any in town, just in the county. I would not know what to do if there were a tornado here. Anyway, today as I am standing under our lovely wide eaves, watching the rain pour down, cascading off the roof and filling up the drainage "pond" across the way, I realize how very, very thankful I am that I can be inside and dry and not out there and wet.

On our cross country trip, pretty much our first stop was Oregon. I was born there, we still have lots of family friends there, and it's lovely. It also rains a lot. I knew this. Our first night there, in early September, we pitch the tent and decide to leave the bulky rain fly off because it is so gorgeous and we want to be able to see the stars through the mesh roof. You see where this is going. We did not.

2 AM or so, we feel the drops, Peter gets the fly on (which is still in the car, I think), and we never sleep in the tent again on the trip (our minivan was WAY comfier anyway). We are also not dry again until almost a week later. Oregon, you see, gets a lot of rain. Well, a lot of drizzle. We were perpetually damp with no way to really get dry, since everything we owned was also wet. And in the small minivan. And the humidity was always 100%. As Nevadans, this was WAY too much wetness for us.

About a week later, after much damp camping, hiking and cooking, we arrived at the home of one of those Oregonian family friends previously mentioned. Honestly, I have never been so happy in my life to be in a SHELTER, a place that would shield me from the elements and keep me warm and dry.

I don't ever want to forget that feeling of gratitude for simple shelter. As much as I love redoing the kitchen and making our new place pretty and welcoming, I truly love the walls, the roof and the floor, which protect us and keep us safe. I am grateful we have that much when so many others out there do not.