Reflecting on the past, ahead of time

Foreseeing writing this post about the prompt 'Reflection', I took some photos while floating and reflecting in our swimming pool last week.

Friedrich Nietzsche once said that, "All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." But as hot as it's been in Florida recently, I prefer to get my exercise in the pool. It's great to exercise vigorously, but remain somewhat cool. And then, I float for awhile.

I remember when we first had the pool built, and filled it with water for the very first time. The water was green! Once the chemicals had taken effect, the water reflected the color of the beautiful blue sky.

I am scheduled to publish this post on Tuesday, Sept. 3. I decided to post it a couple of days early, as we are anticipating the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, and the very possible loss of power.

We have lived in Florida for over 40 years, so have experienced the anticipation, the experience, and the aftermath of many hurricanes. They are unpredictable. Many times, we have expected the worst, and fortunately, have escaped it. With some storms, we have experienced extensive damages and have had considerable heavy cleanup to do afterwards. As you can see, we have lots of trees.

Some hurricanes have left us without power for several days. We've had to haul buckets of water from the pool so we could flush toilets. We've had to bathe in the pool, and were very, very grateful to have that option! It's always hot when these storms arrive, especially when you are dealing with cleaning up tree limbs, etc.

Because my husband was the school principal of a building designated as a shelter, our family many times moved to the school to wait for the storm to come and pass by. He was required to be there, I had to decide whether to stay home and watch the trees swaying and whipping in the wind, or pack up the kids and bring them to the school.

Staying in the shelter was partly like a sleepover, and partly like a nightmare. We had to sleep on the floor and stand in line for peanut butter sandwiches, and deal with unhappy, uncomfortable and frightened people. And you wait. Usually for several days.

We do count ourselves lucky, though, because we still have our home and one another. Too many have lost everything due to these powerful storms. So, I'll end with the words of Charles Dickens: "Reflect upon your present blessings - of which every man has many - not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."

God be with those in the path of the storm.

「反射」という言葉を投稿する前に、私は先週、プールで泳ぎながら写真を撮りました。フリードリヒ·ニーチェは言いました「本当に偉大な考えは歩きながら考え出される」でも最近フロリダで暑いのと同じようにプールで運動したいと思います力強く運動するのは素晴らしいが、少し涼しい。そして、しばらく浮かびます。最初にプールを作り、水を満たした時のことを覚えている。水は緑だった！薬品が効いたとき、水は美しい青い空の色を映し出しました。私は9月3日の火曜日にこの記事を出す予定です。ハリケーン·ドリアンの到着と、電力の損失の可能性を予想して、数日早く投稿することにしました。 40年以上もフロリダに住んできたので、多くのハリケーンに対する期待と経験、そして余波を経験してきました。予測不能です。何度も最悪の事態を予想していたが、幸いにも逃れた。暴風雨の中、我々は広範な被害を受け、その後は相当な大量の浄化を行った。ご覧の通り、私たちはたくさんの木を持っています。数日の間、ハリケーンの中には力を失った者もいる。トイレの水を流すためにはプールからバケツ1杯の水を運ぶ必要がありましたプールでお風呂に入るし、その選択肢を持って本当に感謝していたのです！この嵐が来た時は常に暑いです特に木の枝を掃除する時などには主人がシェルターに指定された建物の校長だったので、家族は嵐が来るのを待って学校に引っ越したことが多い。家にいて木が揺れて風に吹かれるのを見るか子供を詰めて学校に連れて行くか決めなければなりませんでしたシェルターに泊まるのは寝る時のようで、悪夢のようでした。床で寝てピーナッツバターのサンドイッチを並べて不幸で居心地が悪く怯えた人々に対処しました待って。通常は数日間。私たちは幸運にも家とお互いを持っているので数えますこの強い嵐で全てを失った人は多過ぎます最後にチャールズ·ディケンスの言葉で締めくくる。「あなたの現在の恵みを考えてみて下さい-誰もが持っている-あなたの過去の不幸ではなく、誰もが持っている恵みを考えてみて下さい」嵐の途中の人々と神は共にいる。