Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before Them
@BearArtistLady (6036)
United States
March 14, 2023 12:03pm CST
I'm writing this as another bad storm has hit California. I can see out the window at the water over flow on both sides of the rain gutter. It was just at the corner of the gutter and now it's up to my window. I get the feeling I should break out the Ark.
I'm sure you all remember almost two years ago when I was forced to move from the country into town. It was a move I wasn't happy about, but there were no other options. My home had burned down, my boyfriend/husband had passed away 30 days earlier. The board of directors met and decided to throw me out. So I packed what little I had acquired (the fire rendered me with nothing left) and used the money from selling my lot and lived in a motel room. Someone contacted Social Services and through all the fog of grief from losing my home and love I ended up in my apartment.
After having lived in the country with all the wonderful wild animals (deer, raccoons, skunks-yes even skunks) and the miles of lake water and wilderness it was hard converting to city life. To put it mildly, I missed my life and was bitter about having to live in town.
Today, my mother's words came to fruition, "Coming events cast their shadows before them." I was doing my usual cruising on the computer when I came across a news article about Chimney Rock Road being washed out. I had a funny feeling that I wouldn't be surprised. It turns out that the communities of Running Deer Ranch, Cal Shasta, South Shore Village, and the one I used to live in, Tri Counties, are not able to travel to town via the county road (Chimney Rock) and it is uncertain when the area that has totally washed out will be able to be repaired. Fort the present time the only way to get to town and get supplies and other necessary items and medical treatment is by boat to the nearby marina and then to drive down to town. I would have been in deep trouble because I didn't have a boat and no vehicle (Yes, both destroyed in the fire) so I would have been totally stranded. Needless to say I am saying some very heartfelt thank you prayers.
5 people like this
4 responses
@JudyEv (353904)
• Rockingham, Australia
15 Mar 23
It's really strange sometimes how things eventually work out for the best. But you still went through a lot to get to this point.
@BearArtistLady (6036)
• United States
15 Mar 23
There are times when you have to go through a LOT to appreciate where you are now. Some people never learn to appreciate where they are and what they have, no matter how much or how little it is. It is the fact that it is a learning experience, and you can choose to use it as a learning experience or keep it as a reason to keep hatred, anger, and a desire for revenge. I'd rather learn from the experience and reach out and help others as much as I am able. Whether it's giving a hungry animal some food or giving someone who's homeless and cold the jacket I am wearing, it's putting aside my negativity and realizing that the bad things that happened, happened for a reason.
The one good thing that happened from the fire is that I didn't have to try to sort through or pack and move all the stuff from the house. There was a LOT of stuff there and it would take a lot of work to sift through the stuff and figure out what to keep and what to donate to charity. Mom was a collector, and I had a LOT of teddy bear making supplies. I could have filled up a warehouse with all the stuff!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (116358)
• Marion, Ohio
15 Mar 23
Glad you are where you are now. But still sorry about all that you lost
@BearArtistLady (6036)
• United States
15 Mar 23
I am so glad to be where I am now. I have some great neighbors and friends. I have a wonderful apartment that allows me to have my cat. I can catch a bus to where I need to go without much problem. So, I am very happy about that.
As for what I lost, as I said in other comments, Bill was in intense pain from his heart problem. He didn't complain but he survived on pain pills and Tylenol. I was thankful that he was able to pass without all the hubbub that happens in the hospital. He passed quietly in my arms with my telling him that I loved him dearly and that he would always be in my heart and mind. I promised him that I wouldn't cry and mourn like we've seen others do, and that I would always remember him happily. He smiled and quietly said that he loved me tons and always would, and he closed his eyes and passed.
The house and contents were just things. Things can be replaced, and I always have my memories to lean on too. Plus, it was much less for me to move when I moved out of the area. Another plus is that I had to rent a storage unit until I moved into the apartment, and I would have needed one the size of a warehouse. It saved me a lot of work and even more money. 
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (163639)
• United States
14 Mar 23
So the good comes shining through now. Losing people, and things is hard, but the hardest, of course is losing people.
@BearArtistLady (6036)
• United States
15 Mar 23
The weather people say that we will still get more rain...I wonder if the person upstairs in heaven is trying to wash California off the map. I had to go to the pharmacy yesterday to pick up my medication. Needless to say, I ended up soaked. My rain jacket is still wet as are my shoes. (I had no options, at one point I had to step in a huge area of water that was running down the street to get to the storm drain that was already overflowing. The area was about 2 foot deep, so my shoes, socks and feet were soaked!) I was so glad to get home and change out of my drenched clothes and shoes and try to warm up.
It's still raining today. I know that as soon as I go downstairs to check on the mail it's going to rain even harder. I have to call the maintenance department of our rental unit about the blockage in the gutters along our roof. I tried to clean it out myself but was caught by one of the "watch dogs" that the landlords have to keep an eye on things and make sure that everything is working right. I was lectured about climbing up on my step stool and the possibility of falling and injuring myself and I wasn't EVER to try to do that again. (SIGH) So, as you say, the storms can really suck. Hopefully things are bright, sunny and beautiful in Florida.
I had to go to the pharmacy yesterday to pick up my medication. Needless to say, I ended up soaked. My rain jacket is still wet as are my shoes. (I had no options, at one point I had to step in a huge area of water that was running down the street to get to the storm drain that was already overflowing. The area was about 2 foot deep, so my shoes, socks and feet were soaked!) I was so glad to get home and change out of my drenched clothes and shoes and try to warm up.
It's still raining today. I know that as soon as I go downstairs to check on the mail it's going to rain even harder. I have to call the maintenance department of our rental unit about the blockage in the gutters along our roof. I tried to clean it out myself but was caught by one of the "watch dogs" that the landlords have to keep an eye on things and make sure that everything is working right. I was lectured about climbing up on my step stool and the possibility of falling and injuring myself and I wasn't EVER to try to do that again. (SIGH) So, as you say, the storms can really suck. Hopefully things are bright, sunny and beautiful in Florida.