Today I took Little Buddy out to my favorite Honeymoon Island State Park to see the huge restoration project going on. The whole island got devastated by Hurricanes' Helene and Milton. It was covered in over 7 feet of water and much of the island was just washed away. I have been enjoying walks on the portion that is open on my child free weekends, even when it is cold and gray out I love to go. However, I have not taken Little Buddy out to see how they are trying to fix it until today. He was not thrilled but I felt it was an amazing feat to witness. That big barge, far out on the water drills deep into the ocean floor and pumps sand via huge pipes up onto the beach. The sand erupts into a giant sand fountain and it just keeps pumping until they turn it off to catch up. The huge bulldozers flatten it all out and move it down the beach, Layer after layer gets put down. As I understand it the crews are working 24/7 and the whole restoration will take 8 weeks to rebuild 4 miles of sandy beach. I asked if the restoration affects the sea life on the ocean floor and I was assured they drill deep enough that very little sand on the bottom is disrupted so sea life is pretty safe. Still all that noise and vibrations can't make anything living in the Gulf very happy. Yes, the Gulf of Mexico, not America. The island is constantly changing with the help of Mother Nature and now once again with the help of man/womankind. It will be all up and running by Spring and it will be beautiful. I will miss my cold walks on rocks and broken shells on the main beach, but that too is up for restoration in the near future.
I did a little restoration in my house as well. Christmas morning was lovely but there is just not enough places to sit. I have two antique rocking chairs and two sitting chairs in my living room and that is it. No one uses it except me unless we are all in it for Christmas morning, still it just needed more. I bought this incredible loveseat and ottoman and I think it works. It is lower to the ground than I'd like but with the added pillows it makes the backs a little taller. I am not a short woman, so the shorter back sort of freaked me out at first. I bought another loveseat for the office/bedroom my oldest uses when he works from my house a couple days a week. He just got a new job and I felt he needed an update from the 21 year old futon that was the current sitting option in that room. With the new furniture I can bring in the ottoman from the living room into the office if we need a little place to sleep, which we do during storms. And I will be getting a twin blow up mattress for Little Buddy to use as we both don't fit on a full size mattress anymore, he is way too big for that. The furniture is all foam, less items used to construct it, less carbon footprint. Each piece comes in a box and you open it and release it from its shrunken plastic wrapped state and it pops up and sort of inflates all on its own. It prevented me having to take time off for a delivery service which was very nice and I could bring it all in and set it up all by myself..
It has been chilly here, I know don't laugh as all of you are in frigid temps with horrible storms, or are dealing with fire damage and smoke. Mornings have been in the 30's which is cold for here. My house has great windows so I don't often turn on the heat but these past few weeks I have been so cold I have given myself headaches trying to stay warm, ridiculous I know. Even the boys have been cold and have enjoyed a few minutes here and there being covered up all snug and cozy.
I don't do a word for the year anymore, frankly what word would even work in these very dark and perilous times? But I am concentrating on rebuilding my life, restoring my sanity if that is even possible and reconstructing things both physically in my home, and emotionally in my heart. In this crazy world of parenting a very special boy with a very special heart and brain, with a self centered and self serving co-parent it is hard to keep my mind and body moving forward and not getting caught up in the constant day to day ridiculousness. I feel that is the only way I am going to be able to move forward with my thoughts and beliefs on the political spectrum as well. Rebuild myself, restore my faith in myself and mankind however I can, and reconstruct after all the devastation that is currently happening to so many and will only get worse. You can't give in but you can pick your fights, you can defend your opinion and you can remind those that this is what they asked for and they are going to get far worse. A nurse I occasionally work with was gleeful that there are now according to her only two sexes and the Gulf of America now exists, I laughed at her and shook my head at her ridiculous beliefs and said that is a horrible way to think and I hope she can do better. I will be quiet when needed, speak out when I can, take time to restore myself through exercise, walks on the beach, meditation and prayer, and reconstruct and rebuild when the opportunity arises, just like my beloved Island.
Hope you can rebuild, restore and reconstruct when you need to.
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