It was Tuesday, August 4, 2020 and I was pretty proud of myself when I finally uploaded podcast episode #26 in the early rainy afternoon. The topic of that episode was how to build resilience during difficult times. Funny how the Universe decided to make Hurricane Isaias an actual example of resiliency in our lives. On top of our COVID-19 world.
Hurricane Isaias was the main story of the day after having stormed through Florida and the Carolinas. Its side effects further up in the East Coast were severe thunderstorms, tornadoes and flooding. In PA, outside my window, the house was getting thoroughly whitewashed with hard sheets of rain.
A neighbor had gifted us a couple of hearty and homegrown zucchini a couple of days ago and I decided to make zucchini bread with them. Haven’t had decent bread in awhile, so I Googled a recipe and came across a promising one from Shugary Sweets. Honestly, it was the streusel topping that sold me.
Cometh Isaias
So under the pouring rain, safely ensconced in my house, I was tossing the freshly shredded zucchini into my sweet doughy mess when the power. blinked. out.
Then came back a second or two later.
Before blinking out completely.
So.
Didn’t I just preach resilience is the key to dealing with life’s difficulties? Didn’t I just upload that podcast a short time ago this day?
Does this mean I have to lose my zucchini bread on the very same day that the Universe decided to vividly appear at our doorstep?
Aw, you can temporarily play with my electricity but my ZUCCHINI BREAD?
Mindful Moments During Hurricane Isaias
I remember when we last experienced a blackout due to extreme weather. I had wrote about it on this blog (pre-blog before the tech upgrade) and have yet to re-upload it. But it was in our old home in Maryland and it lasted for five days, if I recall correctly.
Being without electricity sucks. There’s no beating around the bush about it.
This time around, Hurricane Isaias knocked out our power from Tuesday afternoon, 08/04/20 to five o’clock pm Thursday, 08/06/20. Two and a half long back-to-the-oldies days.
The thing about resiliency is that it really begins with mindset. And it’s about being mindful in each moment and to make it count.
There’s usually two paths to dealing with difficulty. Either with negative energy (fear) or with positive energy (such as patience and openness). It’s not hard to figure out how the Universe will respond when it receives whatever energy you decide to give it.
And it was no different here.
The World Reacts to Your Response
That’s the key to it, really. Your inner thoughts create your outward world because you are just that powerful. Understanding that is part of the puzzle.
When Zen Mum couldn’t handle the darkness of the night, I lit the oil lamps around the house and handled her a small flashlight so she had something in her hand. Besides staying close by so she was comforted.
When Zen Master threw a fit about missing his news on YouTube, I opened all the windows in the house to let the cool air into the stuffy rooms. And made him coffee which he was craving and had calmed him down. Albeit, I did it french-press style by throwing grinded coffee into water and heating it up over our backup grill. I used a cheesecloth to filter out the grounds afterwards and you know what, it was better than nothing.
Improvise. Adapt and roll with it. And continue to give positive vibes to the Universe. Because it’s all about endurance besides resilience.
What made it a bit easier for me was Zen Master and Zen Mum’s attitude. Relatively speaking, they rolled with the blackout well. They weren’t overly worried or overly anxious. They accepted the situation handily and I know it’s because we were all together. Because I was here to help them through it all.
Glamping at Home
A friend at work introduced me to the concept of glamping. I enjoy nature with a strong hot cup of Starbucks coffee. I adore the night stars when I know the battery to my cell phone is full. Hiking through the woods is honest-to-goodness comfort food for the soul when I know there’s a bathroom nearby.
To be completely unplugged from the Internet and TV and most of all of modern conveniences in our own home was a throwback to pre-internet days. To when it seemed like simpler times. I’m almost fifty and I remember well enough of how it was in the “old days”.
Yeah, it made me appreciate more all that we have today. Not only the material stuff, but our health and our family.
But admittedly, it was tough. Not going to lie about that.
My post-Hurricane Isaias Zucchini Bread
So as soon as the electricity returned by 05:00 PM on Thursday, 08/06/20, the first thing I did was gasp. I’m sitting in the kitchen, playing with my charging phone, and half-heartedly watching Zen Mum make dinner on our one-grill burner on the kitchen table when I heard the “pop”.
And gasped so hard that I almost fell out of my chair. They had said that the earliest of us getting back our electricity was by midnight, Thursday. Then they sent out an update of no, it won’t be until midnight, Sunday, 08/09/20. Then another text update saying nah, Thursday.
Can’t these people make up their minds?
So when it popped on on 05:00 PM Thursday, I gasped and leapt out of my chair to do a happy dance. Zen Master and Zen Mum still hadn’t figure out that the power was back on. The next thing I did was throw in my zucchini bread into the oven. And hope for the best.
When I had made the dough, I had enough for two loaves. I had only one glass and one aluminum bread pan so I had split the batter between the two.
The loaf in the glass dish rose beautifully and tasted really great! I have to admit again, the streusel made it for me. The loaf in the aluminium pan was stunted. The flavor was too wet and I ended up throwing it out.
In Hurricane’s Isaias’s aftermath, our frig had melted and water was all over our kitchen floor. Our pile of laundry was admirably high. The humidity in our house was dense. Our living room and bathrooms needed thorough cleaning.
But we’re still especially fortunate compared to others out there. We still have our health, our house and home intact. It was just a temporary power outage.
My thoughts and prayers to those families out there who have it especially tough.
To Glamp or Not to Glamp
So would I consider paying for an actual glamping experience in the future?
Yes, I would. Now that we’ve prepped for it and I know what to expect now. Because we’ll be doing exactly that, when eventually we make our way to Mongolia.
On the next adventure.
Sally in the Zen
