Adversity, A Flood in Charleston, Arriving Home Safe

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
— Haruki Murakami

Greetings from our mountain top chalet; we had a heck of a weekend.  We flew down on Thursday night to Charleston to catch Nick play baseball.  He hit a home run, had a hot dog, and then back to learn our Air B and B host was not on her game; we ended up getting a couple of hotel rooms for the night.

We rallied on Friday morning to return to Air B and B with code in hand.  The host was embarrassed; I gave grace, things happen, we found shelter, catastrophe avoided.  My Queen and I ran a call in the morning, and then we headed out for lunch; I thought I might take a day off and focus on my family.

We had a great lunch, stopped by to see the kid’s apartment, pretty nice, good space, their dog Grif was in town as well. So in total, we had my wife, myself, cousin Michael, Bay, Angie, Jay, Josie, Nick, and Carly.  Friday night, we returned to the ball field; Nick played well as the designated hitter. Then, we headed back to Air B and B and played some cards.  Our 9:00 p.m. bedtime was blown away; we also had an extra couple of hours due to the time zone change.

Charleston is known for its food, and we took full advantage of every meal opportunity.  We visited Henry’s a couple of times and then another place called home team.  Saturday was interesting, we arrived at the field, and the game started; the rain rolled in, and they canceled the game after only six hitters, three from each team.

One thing about Charleston is that it floods, most of my visits include a washout of the roads, but this time, this was an epic Noah-inspired dump.   By the time we got to our car, two to three feet of water were standing on some roads.  We got about a mile away from the stadium before our vehicle quit.  The kids came in the Forerunner and picked us up.  We left the car to dry out.

We headed back to the Air B and B, had some pizza, and welcomed our friends, Deb, Jerry, and their daughter Megan and Bob.  Another bonus was getting to see my high school friend who joined us at the game and stopped by to play euchre. Finally, we got to bed around midnight, got up yesterday, and hit the road. Unfortunately, we were not able to attend the afternoon game; our plane left at 4:20.  Bay, me, my Queen were heading back to CO while Mike was heading back to Michigan.

We landed on time and got home about 8:00; Mike was not as lucky. First, his flight got rerouted to Dallas; then, his second flight was canceled. So he stayed at the airport hotel last night.  Travel can be dicey at times.  I hope he gets home safe this morning.  It’s always fun traveling with our cousin.

Today, I will work here until 9:30; I have coffee and breakfast with a new friend.  Then meetings this afternoon.  I’ve got my board meeting tomorrow, so I’ll need to put in some prep time for that and clean up the email that I let sit in the inbox this weekend.

I’ve got a little midwestern guilt, I always clean up my email daily, but for the first time in a long time, I took some time and focused on those around me.  I did have a fart machine that I took on the trip that came in handy in a few situations.  Elevators are great when you have a fart machine.  I know, 14-year-old kid humor, but fart machines are funny. I don’t care about your age. I should also share my wife is the valid owner of the farting device.

Melissa watched our home when we were gone; she brought over her dog Jack, and PVHT made a friend. It’s about 6:30; our dog thinks everyone should be up; she just took a ball up to my Queen as if to say, get up and play! She seems to understand when I’m sitting with my laptop clunking away; she’s giving me some peace and space.

I was reminded this weekend that no matter what, everything works out.  There is no reason to get upset or angry, just open your mind to the possibilities and pick one that suits your present opportunities.  Try and reframe any negative situation as a positive opportunity for gifts and growth.  As a group, we rolled with the punches, had a great time in the face of adversity. 

I should point out our adversity was the first world kind, a little rain here and there, not getting into our rented space. Still, some people would have had a meltdown; no one in our group got upset, we laughed as things went the opposite direction of what we anticipated they would go.  It’s a reminder to go with the flow, let things happen as they happen, and lean into the situation.

I’m back in CO for the next few weeks; we will stay put, heading to see some shows at Red Rocks, hosting friends out of town, enjoying our community, and continuing to support our family.  Our company is having a pretty good year; sales are off this month a tad. I suspect our team is enjoying the weather; we’ll get back to hitting on all cylinders soon; we need to tighten up a few policies and procedures; we added another team member, we’ve been thin this last couple of months we are back to full strength.  Finding teammates that fit our culture is a labor of love; it’s a slow process, but we think we have our next rock star!

Have a great day; when something terrible happens, smile, reframe the event into an opportunity and live the life that you were born to live.  You are in control of your mind; make sure you keep it joyful, happy, and focused on making yourself and those around you enjoy the journey.

“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
— Haruki Murakami