A Sleepless Night

Good Morning, Everyone, from the shores of Lake Ontario.

I am a little tired today.  As you may know, we had quite a bit of snow last week along with very cold temperatures.  Over the weekend the temperatures rose to near 40⁰ (F), and yesterday it rained most of the day and into the night. 

Well, in the middle of the night a very loud buzzing rudely awakened me.  This horrible noise sounded much like an alarm clock, and since I rarely set an alarm to wake up (and when I do set one, it’s set to music), I knew it wasn’t a clock making the noise.  After checking the security alarm and the smoke alarms, it finally dawned on me that the alarm was coming from the crawl space basement. I knew I would have to descend into the crawl space to find the cause of the irritating noise.

After clearing all the things stored in the closet over the trap door to the crawl space (a card table, chairs, a ladder, and the elliptical runner) I opened up the trap door. The alarm was definitely coming from the dark cavern below and I could smell the musty odor of the basement seeping up to greet me.  Mustering up my courage, I found the drop light with the long cord and a flashlight for back up, and climbed down the short distance into the close, black space beneath the house.

I followed the sound to a back corner to discover that the sump-pump was over flowing and that it was the float alarm making all the racket.  I reset the alarm, which was quite a relief to my ears, and checked to make sure nothing was blocking the water in the basin.  Finding nothing, I proceeded to give the sump-pump a stern lecture about its purpose and explained that I do not have the money to replace it.  Then I waited.  Nothing happened and I began to realize how eerily quiet it was under the house in the dark space under the house.  I decided to get out of there and wait in the comfort of the house proper upstairs.

I made some coffee and sat down to wait for the sound of the pump to start working and do its job.  Twenty minutes later, I heard the motor kick in and the rush of water as the pump regurgitated the contents of the basin.  It was a long and loud noise.  Finally, it stopped after a good, long minute, and then ran again in about 30 second intervals.  Eventually, it slowed down.  I waited another half hour to make sure it didn’t overflow again and that continued its normal duties.  Feeling all was well; I closed the trap door and replaced all the things in the closet in an organized fashion.  The time was now five-thirty, and I was wide-awake.

Now usually, I don’t notice the sound of the sump-pump running.  Actually, it doesn’t run much except in the spring when there is plenty of rain and the ground frost is melting.  I think I grow used to the noise.  However, I heard it run for the next hour as I tried to fall back to sleep, which thankfully, I finally did for a couple of hours.  I am thankful it’s Monday and I don’t have any appointments today as I am not too alert.

I am not sure why the sump-pump stopped working.  Maybe it was over-whelmed, or maybe it had a bad dream.  Or, maybe it just wanted some reassurance that I appreciate its hard work, much the same as people need to know the same.  I think in the future I will visit it occasionally to make sure it’s okay and to let it know it’s needed.

Have a great week, Everyone!

Peace... 

Journal Entry 010314

Good Morning, Everyone, from the freezing shores of Lake Ontario.  The snowstorm hit us yesterday and dropped about 8 inches of snow here, and the wind built up some very high drifts.  The current temperature is resting at 1⁰ (F).  I am not going anywhere, so I will not shovel today.  The forecast promises temperatures to rise into the mid 30s tomorrow.  I hope to get out over the weekend to snap some photos of the neighborhood and the woods around us. For those of you who did not see them on my Facebook page, the photos below are of the lake after the the first storm of the season For those of you who did not see them:

Today I am going to continue reading the “Divergent” series by Veronica Roth.  I just started the first book and it is holding my interest.  I will also get some writing done today.  I did some writing yesterday and I feel the story is going well, but I am not sure where it will end up.  However, that is how it goes sometimes because characters have minds of their own.

I hope you are all keeping warm wherever you are in the world. 

Peace...

2014 Suggestions for Resolutions

And so a new year begins, 2014. Stepping into a new year is always exciting, for who knows what lies ahead. Many people resolve to personal accomplishments for a new year; however I am not one to make resolutions. I have pretended to make one or two flighty promises to myself in some years past. I say ‘pretend’ because I knew I would never really stick to them. That’s not to say that I didn’t try, but alas, life has a way of moving in unexpected directions sometimes, and those unrealistic resolutions tend take a backseat.

However there is one resolution that I made to myself many years ago, and I did stick to it.  It was more of an oath, really or you could call it a promise. It was as follows:

“Be who you are, let no one define you.”  

This was the most important resolution I ever made and I believe it is the most important suggestion I can give to anyone who is looking to make a life-long resolution. However, before one can make that promise to oneself, one must realize who one is and what that entails. Finding oneself is the first step, though not necessarily the most difficult. The most difficult is to stay true to oneself in the face of any and all adversity. That takes practice and determination. There may be those who disagree with you, or those who don’t understand you. There may even be those who decide to walk away from you. But those people really never knew who you were in the first place and it’s best to leave them to their own path. It’s truly better to be happy alone than miserable in a crowd.

My second suggestion for a life-long resolution is:

“Be kind, be generous.”

This is not always an easy resolution to stick with either. For we sometimes come across those people for whom it is difficult to extend kindness towards. Sometimes we might find that we are being used due to our generosity. Other times, we might come to realize that our acts of kindness or generosity are not helping or improving the person we are extending these things towards. We have to learn to recognize these situations and to kindly walk away without anger or bad feelings. In that you will find that you are not only extending kindness to the other person, but you are also being kind to yourself.

So these are my suggestions for New Year’s Resolutions.

Happy New Year, Everyone! Peace...

The Tidings of Winter

The forest floor is covered

In a colorful carpet of leaves,

The North wind whistles its eerie song

Through the barren branches of trees.

Soft flakes float like feathers

Falling without a sound,

They melt to glisten like morning dew

Once they touch the ground.

In the sky, the birds take flight

To form a ‘V’ shaped formation,

They know that they must travel far

To reach a warmer location.

The furry critters scurry about

Gathering food for their larder,

For they know the future months ahead

Will make finding food much harder.

Autumn is giving up her ghost

As the days grow shorter and colder,

And soon the world will have a blanket of white

For these are the tidings of winter.

Yvonne Horton November 20, 2013

It's only Snow

The snow flies round in furious flurry,

Though some folks see it as such a worry,

But we walk through it without a hurry,

Because it’s only snow, it’s only snow.

When it settles, the world is white,

So that in the sun, it shines too bright,

But we go out and have a snowball fight,

Because it’s only snow, it’s only snow

It’s so much fun for us to play,

And, then one day, it all melts away,

But, we know it will come back another day,

Because it’s only snow, it’s only snow.

The Tides of Change

A change is coming…

Slowly,

It disturbs the air,

Like a supple breeze

In early spring

Sifting over a sill  

Of an open window.

A change is coming…

Quietly,

It advances on tiptoe

In soft stocking feet

Barely making a sound

Like a whispered secret

Delivered in a dream.

A change is coming…

Unseen,

It hides in shadow,

Occasionally caught

Like a flash of light

In the corner of an eye

It shines bright, then flits away.

A change is coming…

Secretly,

But with all its stealth,

I am aware that it’s there

And with that knowledge

I keep moving forward

As I begin to prepare.

Yvonne Horton

Along the Shore

The lake echoes waves that melt to the shore

To deluge with fine sand, soggy green seaweed,

Slippery smooth pebbles and the petite shells

Of tiny crustaceans, their edges sharp as glass

Shine white to glint silver sparkling in the sun.

Deadfall, now long smooth driftwood logs

Scatter, inland to rest solid in higher sand

Like pews set in nature’s vast holy ground

To serve as seats for the weary who wander the shore.