Being thankful today

I had a post all set to go when I came across Tony Wu's tweet about Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy) that has just wreaked so much havoc in the Philippines.  I found many of the images in that collection extremely powerful and I cannot imagine this sort of devastation coming into my life.

I was here in Exmouth for Category 5 Cyclone Vance back in 1999 (more photos here) and it leveled the town, left us without power or water and completely cut us off from supplies.  My husband and two kids spent the brunt of storm separated from me and we each worried sick about the other for endless hours. It was so scary I can't find words and I don't really let myself think about it, even now more than ten years later.

Most people were evacuated after the cyclone hit us.  Cleanup was long, tedious, grueling, disheartening at times.

I don't really know how many lost their homes, but it was a huge percentage.  We personally lost the house that we were just closing on, and we never did get to move in.  Thankfully, Dave was able to locate another house for us weeks, months after the worst of the mess was cleaned up and once things kind of started returning to...not normal so much as not "aftermath" anymore.

Every time I see a disaster I think about how truly lucky we were to go through a Category 5 here and not somewhere else.  Our business, our housing needs, our lives were more or less back on track a mere 5 months after Cyclone Vance hit us.  In those 5 months we were still relatively comfortable - we had food, clean water, proper sewage, supplies.  I can only hope that these most recent victims of Mother Nature are as fortunate.  Their devestation feels so much worse than our own did.

So this isn't the post I meant to share but it's the only post I could write after clicking that link.  And I don't want to dwell on the unfortunate hardships that now face so many families.

Instead, I want to rejoice in the life I have.  I am peaceful and I am in a place where I can help others in need.  I can give something to others and maybe, just maybe, that something will help enough that they in turn will be in a place of peace & joy again one day.  Perhaps they will again be strong enough to offer themselves to another person.

I leave with you a snippet of beauty from my every day life.  Remember to enjoy, love, share and cherish.