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In the spirit of trying more and doing more, I present to you a video my sister’s boyfriend made, just to try. Granted, he wants to do videos for a living, so he’s kind of into the whole video thing. But still. He’s not even out of high school. See what one can do when one tries?

In regards to my last post, which wasn’t very thought out.

Sometimes, no matter if you’re the six year old who wants to play in the street, the 18-year-old who wants to strike out solo and head far away, the 40-year-old who wants to give up…sometimes, we must all be thankful for no. Whether no comes from a wiser parent, a knowledgeable friend, a loving spouse, or the God who understands everything, no can be good.

No is not always a roadblock. No is not always a setback. Sometimes no simply sheds light on the wrong path. No isn’t a direction, but it is an answer. 

It’s late (or rather, early) and I’m still up.
I’m so tired.
But I want.
I want for more.
I sometimes think “oh, I’ll write…what grace and untangling power seems to flow when I just write.“
But then I think, “…what will I write?”
And I recall nights of prayer and seeking, the phone flashlight turned on, the ipod playing poetic songs through my worried mind, and the pen flying and gliding, resting and refreshing to my emotions as it swirled across the lined pages. Here, a lyric. There, a simple doodle. There, my own thought. Here, a more-attempted drawing or an idea of a sketch.
What beautiful times those were. Personal and lovely.

My mind returns to Phoenix on the wings of the melody that will not go away, no matter if I can’t figure it out. Dreams that I still remember and grudges I’m not sure I’ve let go of but I’m certain were never called for. Hallelujah….hallelujah. They all ran to the front, the sea of potential rose and crested, flowing to the stage to proclaim, to set forth, to declare that they were their Lord’s, and they would gladly go.
I stood back and let the grateful tears begin to fall. I was disappointed, but I was grateful. I began to understand and yet I didn’t. I couldn’t go, and I wasn’t meant to yet. Was I ever?
I don’t know.
But still, it rises up as hallelujah.
And still, Phoenix is one of my most cherished memories.
And still, it is beautiful.

A belated Thanksgiving day post? I am thankful for no.

1. I really did care about this election. Also, I voted in it.

2. We were watching the results of said election, and suddenly, Little G just took a few steps and toppled over. He repeated the feat for his father, then held back, suddenly bashful at all the outbursts of applause.

3. It’s snowing right now. And it is beautiful.

4. I have an interest in going to the March for Life this year.

5. I can’t think of a way to tie this in to the whole “living at home, two jobs, not in college” thing. Oh wait!

Ways this totally ties in:

1. I would’ve had to vote absentee in my first election if I was at college, probably.

2. I would NOT have witnessed my nephew’s first steps.

3. I’m safe and warm in my parents’ house and don’t have to worry if I can pay MY heat bill.

4. I’m growing up. I’m starting to learn and decide what I truly believe in. And I am starting to try to quit my passivity.

5. I was being lazy ’cause I had a headache….but…that doesn’t have to do with anything.

I raced down the driveway, full speed in my Goodwill-but-new green and blue plaid rain boots and my corduroy fall jacket, heading straight for the black mailbox at the end of our crescent driveway.

Out of shape and out of breath, I reached the mailbox in record time and pushed a stray strand of fading red hair behind my ear and flipped open the box.

Empty.

Without a second’s pause, I raced right back up the driveway and swung into my living room, shouting quickly, “Nope!”, before discarding my boots and placing myself back at my computer, still in the warm coat. After all, we still haven’t turned the heat on.

It occurred to me that passersby might assume I was looking for a letter of acceptance.
It also occurred to me that I probably wouldn’t mind the assumption.
No, bad Riah.

I started texting back and forth with my best-friend-since-I-was-six who now lives in NC. I wanted to make sure she was okay, and tell her of our many adventures…that we were prepared for. I kept trying to send photos of the weather, but I finally resorted to video.

Ignore my goofy face.

My mother is a genius cook. My brother “Zed” calls her a culinary hacker, and indeed she is. She prepared several meals beforehand that could be either eaten cold or heated using a sternos set-up. She filled any and every bucket, bottle, jar or gallon trash can in the house and yard with water. Water for drinking, water for dishes, water for toilets, etc. We brought out the flashlights and brought up the batteries. We got an emergency radio/light/thing. We put boiling water in a thermos to stay warm for hot cocoa and tea. We brought out the camping percolator for coffee. We baked zucchini bread (which, by the way, finished baking in a hot oven about 40 minutes after the power had gone out), we made granola, we bought pop tarts! My dad strung a blue tarp from the roof to the ground taut, to try to direct shedding water away from our basement and foundation to prevent flooding downstairs. We brought out the giant cooler to store perishable but often used refrigerated items like 2% milk, salad, and  little balls of mozzarella cheese. Everyone started carrying their flashlights around, just in case (at least, I did). Not much besides prep and some rain was going on for a while…

Hurricane Sandy swept through New Hampshire yesterday (and some of today), downing branches, bending road signs, closing streets, and stealing electricity. Thankfully, we have very little damage compared to everywhere else, and my prayers are going out for all my neighboring states. The pictures on the news are rather sobering. Here, to my family, the hurricane was somewhat of an adventure. We were amply prepared for loss of power (in fact, we sometimes seem to welcome it; we all DO love camping), both physically and mentally. All we got was three hours yesterday and a long blink today. After seeing the news from NY, NJ, NC, CT, and MA, though, I was grateful for our short stint. Here’s a shot I tried to get after our little hurricane walk…