2008-05-16

When the Flood Waters Recede

Last week I mentioned looking for some motivation. Well, it came yesterday. It wasn’t a glorious light shining in my window, or a jazzy song giving me rhythm. It was a flood.

Drizzling rain was all that remained of the crashing storm the night before. While making waffles, the power snapped off. Then I glanced in the garage. Water flowed freely. I froze. My husband ran. His yell awakened me, “Call [our neighbor] to help me sandbag!” Bug shouted, “Mom, it’s coming into the house! Get a towel.” “A towel isn’t going to help,” I replied flatly. And it didn’t. Within minutes our moat/entryway was full.

I sloshed around moving the computer, baskets, and National Geographic magazines out of the shallow pond. Bug sprang out to help his dad, and Sunshine and Sweet Pea grabbed the laundry basket. Their boat sank, so they splashed and squealed.

Anxiety invigorated me. We battled the elements to save our house. The whole family worked together. The little girls watched with wide eyes and cheered us on. We filled plastic bags with dirt. Then the hole from my husband’s effort began to divert the water. He pawed out a trench. The river flowed in its new course. We swept water and opened all the doors. The breeze blew and motivation was thrust upon me.

Making Pottery

Cleaning the garage has been on the to-do list for months. The piles overwhelmed me: stuff to give away, broken stuff, memorabilia stuff, homeschool stuff, crafty stuff, tool stuff, and lots of garbage. Since I didn’t know where to start, I didn’t. Now the garage is almost clean. The doors of the storage cupboards shut. The laundry area is neat. The homeschool supplies are easy to locate. And there is lots of room for a pottery studio. I’ll be working in the midst of the lawnmower and dirty towels, but I’ll be working.

Related posts:

  1. On Break
  2. In Which I Justify My Purchase
  3. The Gift of a Dream
  4. Provision
  5. Homeschool Freebie of the Day

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14 Comments

  1. Summer 2008-05-16, 7:16 am

    I’m so sorry for your flood! But so happy that you have found your pottery studio!

  2. Heather Young 2008-05-16, 8:32 am

    Isn’t it amazing the things God uses to move us in the proper direction–for me the both the web design and the painting started up when I messed my knee up and spent 3 months laid up with nothing to do.

  3. Renae 2008-05-16, 9:34 am

    Summer,
    Thanks! This one project has turned into twelve, but I’m glad. We are taking a spring break this month, so I want get everything in order again. And I’m excited to finally have room to set up my little studio. It was there all along, but that “stuff” was in the way.

    Heather,
    Right. There is no loss without some gain. ;)

    I just wish pottery was as versatile as painting. You can paint pretty much anyway. Pottery requires cumbersome equipment, but there is nothing like it. I did oil painting all through school, but once I created with clay I was hooked. Now I need to give my husband my list, and carve out some time…

  4. Anna-Marie Hawthorne 2008-05-16, 10:46 am

    Yea for you! That pic makes me want to create something. :)

  5. Emily 2008-05-16, 10:57 am

    What a total mess. I can picture it all quite clearly. My inlaws live near a river and have been evacuated several times, so we all know the drill.

    Cool pottery studio idea.

  6. Jennifer in OR 2008-05-16, 12:04 pm

    Oh my goodness!! There’s nothing like extreme situations to shake things up, and in this case, it all settled out nicely. I agree, I sometimes need a good measure of anxiety, trouble, and piles of work that MUST be done immediately, to get me back in gear. Blessings to you in your clean garage and pottery studio!

  7. Renae 2008-05-16, 1:46 pm

    Anna-Maire,
    The photo is just for you. :) You said you wanted to see my tools, etc. That’s about all I have, other than some clay.

    The bowls I made months ago, but it was so fun to get my wheel and tools together in one place I couldn’t resist.

    Emily,
    There are still some messes that won’t fit in the trash, but they are easily handled. Thankfully, the whole house didn’t flood.

    Jennifer,
    I really did need that kick start. Now I don’t want to stop. :)

  8. Melinda 2008-05-16, 10:25 pm

    Oh wow! Reading that brought back some memories of when I was 12 years old and we lived in my Grandmother’s ancient house in Wilmington NC during hurricane Gloria. The basement flooded everytime it even rained, so a hurrican literally turned it into a river. I remember wading around in knee deep water, trying to salvage stuff.

    Sorry that this happened to you, but hey! Out of our troubles rise vistories and now you have a nice tidy garage. : )

  9. Angie 2008-05-17, 8:25 am

    Hey why didn’t u call for help? That is what neighbors are for! If there is anything we can do, just holler!

  10. Melissa 2008-05-17, 8:57 pm

    Ah yes! The emergency organization sessions! Aren’t they just the thing?!!! :) Glad you all didn’t get “TOO” wet!

    Blessings,
    Melissa

  11. Martin Welch 2008-05-18, 10:02 pm

    Good thing the flood is over and you got a pottery studio. :) Glad everything’s fine at your home.

  12. Dana 2008-05-19, 7:05 am

    It is neat how kids join in to help their parents in situations like that. We had a tornado a few years ago and not only did our children work as hard as their little bodies could during the clean up, the whole community did. The day after the tornado, we had over 800 people here in town helping out…over twice our town’s population.

    And there was something sort of special about everyone walking down to the church three times a day for meals. Because no one had electricity or water for a few days.

  13. Rachael 2008-05-20, 2:44 am

    HI Renae,

    Sorry to hear about your flood! I hope you can get everything sorted out soon!

    Rachael. :-)

  14. Life Nurturing Education » On Break 2008-05-29, 9:08 pm

    […] I know you’ve figured this out, but I like to keep our house straight. We maintain throughout the year by shoving things into closets and drawers. At some point, the cupboard doors no longer close, so we pile stuff in the garage. At some point, the garage is full, so a flood brings motivation. […]

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