The definition of anticlimatic

Sorry. You'd think that after building up my recommitment to the daily photo and blog, I could pick something interesting, or beautiful or clever to post, but no, I'm talking about the weather.

This last week I've had a nasty cold and felt miserable. Of course the weather was gorgeous. Brilliant blue skies, beautiful fall leaves, crisp clean air and plenty of sunshine. Today, just as I'm starting to feel better, it's been gray and rainy. Rob, who is known as Scrooge for his dislike of photo shoots, most major holidays, chaos and whining, actually likes rain. He appreciates the clean smell, the way it turns everything green, the quiet indoor activities. It turns out that I'm the scrooge when it comes to weather. I've been thinking of this a lot lately in term of metaphor for my life. Opposition which helps up appreciate the sunny days, the silver lining of the clouds. And I do feel grateful for those things.

The black hole months have had some pretty average challenges, nothing too tragic or difficult, not a devastating hurricane or earthquake, just rain. But the response of my family and friends to these small trials has been huge for me. I'm so thankful for so many kindnesses: we had dinners brought in, phone calls, lunch delivery, notes, loaves of bread, cookies, prayers, kids picked up and taken care of, I even got a song recorded for me. I couldn’t ask for better friends. Rob came home early, fixed dinner, cleaned, ran errands and ordered me to rest on the couch. The kids have all been extra helpful. I was embarrassed to be on the receiving end of so much service—I kept telling people that we’d be fine, and we would have been fine, but it wasn’t just our temporal needs that were met. It was a blessing to feel so loved and cared for. Thank you.