Oh, that smile!

Jorgie and I went night skiing at Pat's Peak yesterday. I could tell from the smile on Jorgie's face that she had a lot of fun.

I love it when she smiles, it makes me feel like I'm succeeding. It makes me feel like a good dad.

I don't remember smiling much when I was a kid. I wonder how it made my Dad feel when Michelle or I smiled. Did he cherish the moment? Did he feel proud of himself?

I don't know.

I had a lot of fun too. I really have to try and go skiing more, after all it's right down the street. Fifteen minutes away, that's it.

It's funny seeing my little girl whizzing down the mountain. Two small skis, no poles, and a smile. She's quite the daredevil too. I guess I probably contribute to that. She sees her thirty-six year old dad catching air in the snowboard park. If Dad can do it, why can't I.

I can only imagine when she's a teenager. I skied like.........well.....probably like an idiot in my teen years.

I don't really feel like I'm in my mid thirties, but I guess that's good, at least until I end up a thirty year old antique ball of snow rolling down the hill.

This morning, my legs feel like they have been around for a few years. Although that's more because I need to get of my thirty-six year old ass and get some more exercise.
I always forget how much fun it is, and I really mean to go more, but we get busy. Life gets in the way.

But that smile! That smile on Jorgie's face is worth all the money in the world.

The Invisible Miracle

Tomorrow will mark one week of not having power.

Yes, I mean electricity. That invisible miracle that we so often take for granted.

A whole week of not having power is such an eye opening experience.
We have managed though.
We are very lucky that I purchased a small (very small) generator last year, after I installed a pellet stove in our home. It runs on electricity so that means when there is no invisible miracle, there's no heat.

So we have heat, and a few other things as well. We can run the pellet stove, and then switch out the TV, coffee maker, computer. We have to unplug one to use the other. So we have managed, but the hardest part is not having running water. No running water means no showers.

Oh I see you backing up away from the computer screen. Come on I don't smell that bad. At least I can get first in line for just about anything. See, there is always a bright side. No I'm kidding. We've gone over April's Dad's house and taken a few showers. It's a little tough to trek an hour away just to take a shower, but it's better than being a stink.

We've got the toilet covered, even though we have to go down to the small stream next to our house to get buckets of water so we can flush it, at least we can use the bathroom. All these things we take for granted. Like cooking on the stove instead of cooking on the grill outside, in below freezing weather.

Last night we saw six electric company trucks in the grocery store parking lot. It was three miles from our house! I wanted to tell them to come our way, but who knows what I would be greeted with. I saw on the news that some guy got arrested for blocking the trucks from leaving his road because he didn't have power yet. The desperation of it all. This does make for good material for a story I have been cooking up for some time.

Hopefully by tomorrow. That's what they say.

Oh I want some of that invisible miracle back!

Please!