Weathering the storm

For those of you who have been watching dramatic newscasts of falling trees and 100mph winds and people huddled in cold buildings without power for days, know that I survived it all okay.
We were luckier than some, unluckier than others. Fortunately we did have propane heat, though no hot water or lights for 3 days. We cooked on a propane campstove and sat around by candlelight and flashlight, seeking out buildings with generators to plug our cel phones and computers into (oh, it was tough). Everyone tells us that this is unusual, one of the worst winters ever. I feel as if I am being initiated into this new place, stripped bare of all comforts, the little spoiled princess in me whining for Hawaii.
One can only complain so much, I suppose, before you get tired of your own whining voice. At some point, when everything seems to get stripped away little by little- no car, no home, no electricity, no daylight, an ironic thing happens; I find that I am beginning to manage a little bit of gratitude in the midst of it all. What DO we have? Good friends, enough to eat, and the miracle of a bright orange thrush that appears each morning in the tree outside in the midst of what otherwise appears to be a cold grey world.
I am reading Cormac McCarthy's new book, "The Road," about a father and son wandering the ruined earth at the end of days, hanging on to the slightest shred of survival in a bleak and hopeless world. Interestingly enough it is the perfect thing to read when your comfort feels threatened, because I realize how spoiled we have become by our abundance.
Patience and persistance are my guiding words this week. I watch myself sway from a sort of aqcuiecence to utter resistance and back again. And every once in awhile the sky opens up and we get a glimpse of heaven and remember why we came here in the first place.