EMBRACING THE UNEXPECTED

Remember a few weeks back I said I'd chosen to "embrace the unexpected," and that the word unexpected had already appeared on my radar?

The word was well-chosen, because unexpected keeps showing up. It's not a blip--more like a permanent resident.

So far we've had unexpected high temps--today's high forecast at 58 degrees! Tonight's low, 16 degrees!

I thought it was winter, at least until closer to March 20th.

We're naming winter storms now--last I saw was Winter Storm Lucian. If we're up to the L's, we're nearly halfway through the alphabet. Hmmm.....

We could say that winter weather--storms, ice, heavy snow, even freezing rain--isn't unexpected. Up here in the north country, those conditions are what winter is all about, right?

Yesterday we had fog--not quite a pea-souper, but close. I drove home from a shopping trip in a nearby town below my usual speed, with eyes peeled for sudden appearances of other vehicles I didn't expect.

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Basically, I'm getting a crash course in embracing the unexpected. 

I've figured out a few ways to deal with some of these changes. For instance:

--keep three seasons of clothes out and available--long heavyweight sweats and turtle neck tops; medium weight fitness clothes and tee-shirts; fitness capris and tank tops. Socks in all weights. Shoes ditto. Coats of all types.

--fill the freezer with meals that vary from light and lean to hearty and filling.


--make sure there's entertainment available for frozen-in-solid days; books and DVDs work well when the chores are done. Plus, DVDs are great while I'm doing those chores.

--pull out unfinished projects (called UFOs by quilters and others) and actually finish one of them!

--get used to shopping whenever the street and driveway are cleared of ice and snow--never mind what day it is or even the time of day.



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I've figured out a couple more things:

1. Don't try to anticipate the unexpected. (A no-brainer, right? But once you've experienced the chaos of The Unexpected, you begin to speculate. Resist that temptation.)

2. Take notes. Who knows? Those moments/days/week-upon-week of chaos might make a good blog post some time in the future; or not.

3. Look for meaning. Remember this: On Christmas Eve, a bunch of shepherds were visited by angelic beings bringing them an enormous message. Now, that's unexpected.

4. Don't worry if you don't get a great big Life Lesson every time. Or any time. You might. You might not.

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Have a blessed week.