Shadows and Light, Chaos and Order Reflections

There are some staffing changes at the group home. Whether it is permanent or temporary is up in the air. I’ve been in this field for a gazillion years and yes I have seen lots of change but when it comes to a staff leaving or a new staff coming in, it is always very tiring. The rhythms of the group home will go on, people will slip into the tempo of the flow and sun will shine on the good things as well as the bad.
Remember sitting on the sidewalk on a hot summer day and staring at the waves of heat wafting upwards? How do you understand that? The waves distorted what you would see beyond them. You know that what you see is an illusion but what a strange but beautiful sight. A small gift that at the time you may not recognize. That is what change feels like.

Edge of Destruction

Just a quick post about the storm (tornado) that selectively touched down in cottage country on Wednesday.
We had a late supper and my brother David and his wife Elaine and their son Quinton were slowly packing up to go back to their farm. That entails a trip by boat as we do not road access at the cottage. As a side note we do not have hydro but we have a generator and solar panels. We also enjoy the convenience of having an outhouse. The outhouse does have water and lighting as a bonus but there are times when taking that long trek can be trying. The clouds were rolling in fast, there were flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder alerted the dogs that a storm was imminent. It didn't take long after that for the rain to start. After watching a curtain of rain roll in off the lake, we batten down the cottage for the storm. Still we had rain coming in, finding it’s way in through the doorframe and anywhere else that offered a path into the house. All the while we were watching Nurse Betty on DVD and putting out pots and pans to catch the leaks that were developing. The dogs were taking turns to lie in the safety of one of the corners. It seemed very surreal and calm even somewhat protected in the cottage. During this time two trees fell, one of which was twisted before it snapped and leaving a pile of sawdust around its base. We did not hear the felling of the trees’ as the wind was too strong. The wires to the outhouse were knocked down, the swing was tipped over and one branch was impaled into the ground. Looking out on the lake there were no lights from any of the cottages, only a lone generator could be heard breaking the silence. We came out of it almost unscathed compared to the nearby areas.