And Then The Deer

I had a really good day on Saturday. 

A friend came for lunch and stayed for tin art. 

Heidi the Librarian came to tin art as well. 

We all hung out in the studio,

Creating, chatting, and singing 80’s music. 

We ate together and played Word on the Street with my parents and

Just had a lovely, stress-relieving time. 

 

Then I got a text from my friend on her way home. 

“So. I just hit a deer.

 

Thankfully, my friend is okay and 

She was able to drive her car home. 

But her car is likely totaled and 

That’s a hard pill to swallow. 

 

…

 

If I’m honest, 

I must admit that I’m sometimes afraid to have a good time 

Because I’m afraid of the other shoe falling.

I know it’s just my anxiety.

I know that life doesn’t punish us for having moments of joy.

But the thoughts of bad balancing out good are still there.

And evidently, this is very human.   

 

Yet it’s no way to live.

Not really. 

 

The challenge of living is to be present exactly where we are,

In good times and bad. 

To savor joyful moments and celebrate happiness.

To laugh and smile often. 

To eat, drink, and be merry. 

And then, in the moments that are difficult,

To acknowledge how we’re feeling,

To name our stress and anxiety,

To declare that sometimes things suck,

To mourn and to weep, 

To fall back on the strength of moments when things were okay, and 

To take the next right step to get through. 

 

…

 

Saturday was a day of joy and laughter for me. 

I was not worried about anything

Other than the design of my tin art. 

I was with friends.

I was with family. 

I was happy.

My friend was too. 

And then the deer. 

 

Oh God: Life is up and down. Help us not to miss one for the other. Amen. 

Try Again. Later.

 

Sometimes things come easily. 

Sometimes they don’t. 

Saturday was an example of the don’t’s

And it was very frustrating. 

 

I was trying to make a tin art quilt square pattern that I had made before. 

I cut the one-inch strips,

Trimmed them into one-inch squares, 

Cut the squares into triangles, 

And then started piecing together the design.

 

For some reason, it would not make! 

Every time I placed a piece, I knocked another piece out of line. 

I worked steadily for about 45 minutes.

I even took off my glasses so that I could focus more carefully!

Finally, I got the design to where I liked it,

And I was getting ready to tape it down,

When suddenly my example square fell over,

Hitting my working square, 

And knocking all the pieces out of place. 

Ugh!

 

I tried to tweak the mess and get the pieces back in line,

But each time I adjusted one piece,

Something else messed up.

After about 15 more minutes,

A lot of frustrated noises,

Walking away a few times,

And giving up hope,

I finally just dumped the whole thing and decided to start again.

Later.

 

…

 

Sometimes things come easily. 

Sometimes they don’t. 

But thankfully, when they don’t, 

We can always try again 

And hope that the second time, 

Or third, or fourth, 

We will have success. 

 

So in the times when things don’t come easily, 

Hang in there, friends. 

Keep going. 

Keep trying. 

Keep doing your best, 

Even when your best means surrendering in defeat 

And trying again later.

 

Amen.  

A Storm That Changes Everything

 Sometimes a storm comes and changes everything.

 

On Saturday, Heidi and I set up a booth for #_dandhdesigns_ at a local vendor fair.

Shortly after the event started,

Barb The Art Teacher showed up.

Amy The Disney Expert showed up too.

I didn’t know either of them was coming!

And none of us knew what was about to happen.

 

We were humming along,

Hanging out and chatting,

When suddenly we heard distant thunder.

Dark clouds quickly rolled in and rain began to fall.

We all worked to get our tables under the tent.  

And we used Barb’s emergency ponchos to cover the products still getting wet.

 

Then it happened.

 

A gust of wind picked up the tent beside us,

Pushed it into our tent,

Knocked over a bunch of our pieces,

And then kept dangerously rolling through the parking lot.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

 

Amy and I immediately grabbed our tent to keep it from blowing away.

Heidi and Barb immediately went to help the vendor next to us get her products to safety.

Amy and I continued holding our tent until two event workers came to help us take it down.

As we were taking it down, we realized that our tent was broken.

 

I don’t know everything that happened next.

I went to get the car, assuming that we would throw everything into the trunk in a disheveled mess.

But when I got to our site, it was empty.

Heidi, Amy, Barb, and the event workers had moved all of our products to a corner of the nearby shelter.

 

Barb asked if I had a towel, which, for some reason I did,

So she took the towel and began drying off our pieces.

Realizing that we were not yet leaving, I moved the car back to the parking lot.

Amy, Barb, and Heidi set up all of the pieces again and

We ended up staying for another two hours!

Every other vendor left during the storm.

Because we were the only ones who stayed,

We made some sales that we otherwise might not have made.

 

A stressful day turned into a strange success.

 

A storm came and changed everything.

 

On this September 11th,

I am reminded of the storm that hit 22 years ago today.

With the bombing of the Twin Towers,

America changed.

For some changes, we are grateful.

For other changes, we lament.

But one thing is certain,

 

A storm came and changed everything.

 

Oh God. When life’s storms hit and everything changes, help us to hold to the love of those around us, for it is your love made manifest on earth. Amen.