Perspective

Just a quick footnote to sandbags and siphons...

As crazy as it was yesterday running around trying to keep the water out of the house, we are really one of the fortunate ones to be able to talk about what happened and make a comedy out of it. The water did not come in, except for a trickle at one point. The water was not sewer water. We have great neighbors that offered to pitch in when we needed it. The roof is in tact, the trees are still standing, etc. etc. We are fine, we are warm, well fed, and dry.

There was a news story yesterday that a man had been found drowned in a river in Tualatin, a nearby town. He was 54. I thought to myself, "Oh, man, I wonder if that's one of 'my guys'?" because many of the homeless men I work with are in that age range. We always worry when there is flooding because some of 'our guys' sleep or hang out under bridges. Sure enough, this morning I got a call from my co-worker and it was a fellow I've met a couple of times. We don't know the circumstances surrounding what happened, but it was sobering all the same. We are so very fortunate every day and take so much for granted. My muscles (and the kid's muscles) are a little sore from hauling buckets of water. A small price in the great scheme of things...