“And God said: Let there be light: and there was light.”
- Bible, Genesis (ch. I, v. 3)
And we are thankful for that light, the light of day and the lights that we can turn on at night, on this 23rd day of September, 2008 at 9:58 a.m., and for that we add our thanks to those wonderful angels from all over the country that came to the Houston area to help us get back to a normal life. There were somewhere around 21,000 crew members from power company, telephone companies, and tree disposal companies, that came into Houston to help us out. God Bless them all.
Now that we have our power back on, maybe I can get my mind turned back on to a normal setting and get on with getting on. I’m going to start another blog that will give me an opportunity to seek, find and tell about wonderful things that I see going on all around me that I am usually unaware of. Yesterday I went to the Laundromat – we had no clean sheets or towels, and were running out of underwear – whew! Thank goodness for Laundromats. It’s probably been 30 + years since I did any laundry in a Laundromat, and they haven’t changed – the washers and driers are updated, but they are there. I was startled by the coin deposits which took quarters and read “deposit 14” – I thought to myself, WOW! 14 quarters just to use one machine, but when I calculated the actual amount 14 quarters was, and found out that it was only $3.50 and would hold two normal washers full of clothes, I decided that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The driers were 6 minutes for 25 cents. This particular Washerteria, which was the name of the business, had approximately 100 washers and about 50 driers, all full and people waiting to use them. It took four washers and two driers to do our clothes, and as I waited I began looking around at the people. I had recently heard on the radio that several of these Washerterias were open all over town, and one of the disc-jockies was really giving them a bad name, asking if the other commentator had ever been to a “washerteria” – that they were scary and dangerous and you needed to take some form of protection with you to be there – what a bunch of hogwash! There were several families there – mom, dad, and kids, ranging from infants to teenagers – and to my surprise there was no bickering, no screaming, no running around causing a ruckus – the kids were putting money in the machines, taking clothes out of the machines, talking and laughing with each other and their parents – people were smiling and laughing and visiting with each other and people from all walks of life were there. The cars in the parking lot ranged from old beat up pickups to Lexus, Cadillacs, BMW, you name it, from the basic to the luxurious and everyone was making the best of an unusual situation.
I felt honored to be a witness to this - the last time I saw people coming together in such a fashion was right after 911. I also began to think what a shame that this camaraderie and desire to help wasn’t more long lasting. In just a few days, a couple of weeks maybe, everyone will go back to their normal lives and forget that people most everywhere are good, kind and friendly. They will forget that good feeling they got when they smiled, laughed and talked to a stranger, worked with a neighbor they had never talked to before getting the yards cleaned up, forget they forgot their “station” in everyday life and became more human and humane.
Ah, well! That’s life, I guess, and I am as guilty or more so, than the next person. That is why I am going to start a new blog, to make myself more aware of the people around me and how good and kind most people are – that will make me a better person, and if I share my experiences with others, maybe they too will begin to notice their neighbors and others they chance to meet or witness doing what they do everyday and be more forgiving and kinder and more loving toward them. I will still keep my blog on weight management going, because I feel that there are some people out there who truly do want to do something about their weight and are interested in learning how I managed to reduce my weight to my preset goal and keep it there for a prolonged period of time without strict dieting, diet pills and strenuous exercise. I haven’t decided what I am going to call my new blog yet, but will let you know when it is up. Hope you enjoy both blogs.
Think Thin (beautiful, kind, loving) Thoughts!
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Tags: angels, clean sheets, Genesis, hogwash, laundromat, light, power, towels, underwear, washerteria
