Great Neighbors and Skillet Cookies

In hindsight, I realize that we suffered VERY little during our 5 electric-free post-hurricane days. We were fairly well prepared, though we have no generator. However, we have a gas stove and hot water heater. We lost pretty much everything in our frig and freezer that we could not eat...we gave lots of thawing food to our neighbors and served the missionaries and our neighbors some interesting combo meals. It forced me to clean out the frig and freezer...chores I had long procrastinated.

I discovered that many things can be cooked in a skillet. I had frozen cookie dough in the freezer that I could not bear to see go to waste...so I made "skillet cookies". They were delicious. We ate better that week than we usually do.

We were both off work for over a week and got to spend real quality time together. Scrabble by lantern light is fun!

I loved seeing my neighborhood pull together to clean up. People came out of their homes and interacted with each other. People that had never met before are now friends. One of our neighbors is in Africa for several weeks. He could have come home to a yard filled with limbs and debris. He will never know how men from the neighborhood came together to clean his yard, trim his trees and bag the debris. He will come home this week to a spotless yard.

I was touched by the generosity of our friends. We had offers to stay at the homes of friends. Ice seemed to magically appear whenever we needed it, thanks to kind friends.

My favorite part of that week was watching hummingbirds. I am ashamed to say that I barely noticed the tiny winged-warriors before that week. However, that week I spent a LOT of time outside. I was fascinated by the hummingbirds that fed and fought at our patio feeding stations. I have a new appreciation for their beauty and fearlessness.

I look back at that week with gratitude for the things I experienced, learned, and witnessed. However, I am in no hurry to repeat that learning experience. I hope my next learning experience includes air conditioning!

Loretha Bumbaugh