Stay Where Your Feet Are

6:10 am:  A sudden power outage inside and out ~ from one end of the street to the other ~ not even a street light!

Annoyance about inconvenience flickered,

interruption to my carefully set routine.

Red warning lights flash in my mind.

'Stop moving.'

'Breathe.'

'Stay where your feet are.'

My regular instruction to others.

Is it good enough for me?

When the lights go out,

and I mean all the lights went out

a bubble of panic burst inside - I moved the flash light yesterday - where is it?

An all too familiar feeling of powerlessness threatened to overwhelm.

Turn out anything electrical.

Check the fuses.

Think - being late for work not an option.

May 3rd,

Al-Anon ODAT

An old memory

What was I doing?

Getting my breakfast ready.

Cereal, milk, fruit - all on the counter.

Call BC Hydro first.

Routine restored, timing a bit off but,

washed, dressed, fed and organized ~

and after texting folks to be let in on the sudden darkness  ~

I and my flashlight (the big industrial kind) go out the door to work

trusting that all will be well when I get home (and it was).

".....My mother taught me, when I was a little girl, that when 
anything very dreadful happens, I must think of what I 
would be doing if it had not happened, and then do that.”

~ May 3, One Day at a Time in Al-Anon