Winter Adventure

As I sit at my computer this morning I am huffing and puffing and my fingers can barely move over the keys because they are cold and stiff from my adventure outside in what our weather man is calling an ‘artic blast’! I have not found the leading from God on subject matter this morning, so I am simply writing off the top of my head; my cold head with numb cheeks.

Today, in our village, is trash day. The wind is howling and literally blowing anything not nailed down; this includes our large, ugly, nasty trash can down on the street….at the bottom of the hill….on the north side….where the wind is the strongest……and coldest.

Looking out my beloved kitchen windows I can see our large, ugly, nasty trash can being moved across the pavement dodging flying objects of unknown origin. Normally, my Honey brings the trash can back up in the afternoon when he returns from work. He just throws it in the back of his little truck and motors on up the hill. Fearing he would have to look on the next block to find it this afternoon, I decided…out of love and consideration for my Honey…..to trudge down the hill and bring it back up while it was still in the vicinity of our driveway.

Being dressed in multiple layers already, this seemed a small task but big in scale in the ‘consideration and love’ category. I LOVE MY MAN! Getting out of the storm door alone should have been notice enough that this was more than I had bargained for because it took considerable effort to push the door open against the northern wind. Door slamming behind me in spite of my best efforts to prevent it, I shoved my hands in the pouch of my sweatshirt that comprised my outer layer. Before I reached the driveway, I had been beaten by the fierce wind but pushed on….now it felt like a challenge.

At the bottom of the hill I up-righted the can, touching it as little as possible but that pesky wind necessitated the up-righting of the can over and over again! Uggg! I looked around for the lid because it was not with the can. I looked and walked the street in both directions looking for said lid. Nothing! My neighbor’s cans and lids where present and accounted for, if not in their place, but ours was not in sight. It did not take long before I decided trash can lids were highly overrated and we didn’t need one anyway!

My trip up the hill with the can in the wind was an effort. The wind repeatedly tried to blow it out of my fingertips…I would not touch it with my whole hand because, well, you know…ugg!!! Finally at the top I was dismayed to see the lid of the trash can. My precious man had not taken it down the hill in the first place! My hunt for the lid turned out to be a wasted effort that produced nothing but cold, stiff fingers. I might have shouted to the heavens but my lungs were screaming at me due to the cold air and accent up the hill fighting the trash can. Not a sound came out of my mouth but, boy, were the thoughts flying around in my head!

In the time it has taken me to write this, I have warmed up considerably and shed the top layer. My fingers are moving across the keyboard with a more normal pace and agility. The huffing and puffing has slowed to an occasional huff and puff and my lungs are no longer screaming at me. All is well in my world once more.

But, Honey, don’t be looking for me to bring that large, ugly, nasty trash can up the hill again. If God had intended for me to shuffle trash cans He would not have given me first brothers then a husband followed by sons and grandsons. Ya gotta love that God is in the details!