Sunday, December 28, 2014

Intensity, Adversity


Limping along so far today.  The power blinked off for a moment, and my computer and wi-fi are slowly coming back to working order.
 
We’ve got snow, lots of it.

In fact, Bill just came in from plowing the driveway and blowing out trails for a couple of hours.  He also went for a drive and said he saw one power line drooping so low, he could almost reach up and touch it.

That long-awaited Christmas blanket of white, or should I say “quilt” came yesterday and overnight.  Never mind that it was a couple of days late; it was still gorgeous wherever homes were lit up with their sparkly displays when we drove home from the movie last night.

This morning, along with the beauty came work, and there’s more of it to be had.  More trails are needed, and more cleaning out around the manure pile and down the lane must be completed before the temps turn frigid (single digits approaching zero) and all the white stuff petrifies during the predicted extended cold.

Today marks the end of Annie’s visit.  She was able to stay a couple of extra days, and I think she enjoyed herself.  We’ll be heading to the airport soon for her mid-afternoon flight back to Seattle.
 
And, who knows----maybe I’ll see Willie, Debbie, Swiss Miss, Brooke and Todd toodling on home from Boise on my way back to Sandpoint.

It will be fun to have them back home and to get some visiting done.  We don’t actually get to visit much while they’re home because they’re so busy with school and POAC, but maybe the Christmas break will offer a little more time.

Bill and I accomplished one of our goals for the holidays last night, and I must say that when we arrived home, my body was worn out AND that was from two sitting activities.
The first involved sitting, eating and biting nails. 

Yesterday afternoon’s ZAGS-BYU game gave everyone their money’s worth.  The ZAGS controlled most of the first half nicely, but BYU was not going down easily.  Suddenly a 17-point ZAG lead diminished to a tie-ball-game at the half.

Both teams traded off the lead several times in the second half, but then an unselfish, talented team leader saw a need and dished out a good dose of his magic.  

In those few minutes, Kevin Pangos, a senior, who has quietly directed the ZAGS in his point guard position, generally allowing other players the glory, showed his leadership and ramped up his own personal efforts. 

The team came together toward the end and held off an impressive challenge from BYU.  When it was over, we could all breathe again.

A few minutes after my sisters left, Bill asked when the movie Unbroken was showing.  Turned out we had 45 minutes to get ready, jump in the car and head to town on a very snowy night.

Angelina Joelie did a fine job with this movie, telling the Louie Zamperini story as best one could within the limits of movie minutes.
 
True, the book offers much more, but the basic story line in the movie clearly exhibited the inner strength and determination of Louie in this story about his World War II experience as a bombardier, a survivor who endured nearly 50 days in a raft surrounded by sharks and even more, a soldier who survived ruthless and beyond cruel torture as a prisoner of war.

In spite of his treatment, Louie led quietly and through his example of inner strength. 
I could not help but think of Kevin Pangos from earlier in the evening with a similar brand of leadership, only in a dramatically different situation.  In both cases, we saw the vivid enactment of the classic reminder, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” 
When we walked into the house, Annie asked how we liked the movie.

“Intense,” was all I could say, adding that we’d just survived four-five hours of intensity between the game and the movie-----our version, minimal in comparison.

It’s nice to be reminded from time to time of the traits deeply ingrained within true heroes among us, for those reminders can conceivably make a difference in our own lives whenever we face tough odds.  We can cue in on their examples and maybe dig down to find our own inner strength.

And, so on this morning, when I say we’re limping along, I have to chuckle.  The power went off for a split second, the driveway is cleared out from snow, roads will, no doubt, be cleared out by the time Annie and I head for Spokane, and we should do just fine.

Our daily “challenges” at times are a joke in comparison to what others have endured.  “Unbroken” certainly puts that observation into perspective. 

Happy Sunday.    



2 comments:

Kamyria said...

Happy Sunday to you too! You can share the snow with us any time you wish friend. We've had spring like weather here for the holidays and while it's nice when I have to go and run some errands, I do miss being buried in snow.

Big Piney Woods Cats said...

So far today I have had the power go off a total of 7 times!!! Really hard on electronics.