For over a week we’ve had workers tearing out two showers in our house, repairing damage from leakage (some minor, some major), and then installing new showers. So my creative life this week has been less active than usual because I’ve been distracted by the mundane.
Today I’m sharing some
Random Thoughts
I had not realized how stressful it was to have construction guys in the house (upstairs master bath and basement bathroom). My schedule was not my own. One of us needed to be here at all times to answer questions and to check in on what was happening.
Friday, when it seemed that the work was winding down and Jon was out for awhile, I decided to try doing my online Soma Yoga class in the living room. I was just getting my Zen on when one of the guys came upstairs and in a panicked voice asked me where the water shutoffs for the house were. Now this was not the plumber so I immediately moved from Zen to alarm.
The guys had accidentally broken the cartridge in the shower control mechanism and water was spraying all over the downstairs bathroom. After several confused minutes, we had the water shut off and the guys began cleaning up the water. Fortunately they were able to find a replacement cartridge and have the plumber come back to install it late Friday afternoon so the water was shut off for only a few hours.
Gratitude for many blessings
This reminded me of the great blessing of having hot and cold running water whenever I want it in my home. I am filled with gratitude for this and other blessings that I often take for granted.
I have been listening to Paul Hawken talk about his new book, Regeneration, Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation. One of the things that he said was that people who are in crisis in the world because of lack of food, danger from violence, lack of medical care, etc, are not interested in climate change. They are focused solely on survival in this moment. (You can listen to his podcast here.)
98 of the 100 solutions are regenerative development. If you do them, we’re better off with respect to life in a measurable way, whether it’s water, food, grassland, soil health, marine life, pollinators, etc. In other words, the development, when completed, leaves the world better off than when we started.
– Paul Hawken in ‘A Plan to Reverse the Climate Crisis’
Think about that for a moment. When was the last time that you faced eminent danger and feared for your life or the lives of your loved ones? Living through my husband’s hospitalizations a month ago I experienced stress that I’m still unwinding from. Yet that is nothing compared to what some endure around the world.
What we need to do is change our activity here on Earth. It’s not about a ‘fight’.
– Paul Hawken, ‘The Intellectual Environmentalist’ on The Environment Show
Back to the mundane
The upstairs bathroom is almost finished. Here’s what the new shower looks like (in my world this is definitely beautiful, just so you know)…
Nice smooth walls that won’t create places for mold to grow, and a grab bar to help when (if) I need something to hold onto as I age. We decided not to install doors because of the small amount of space between the shower and the toilet in the master bathroom. So I have a new shower curtain ready to hang when the final work is done. I can’t wait to take a shower in the new shower!
Gracie Had a Challenging Week
Gracie also had a stress filled week. She doesn’t like change. Because we were worried about her getting into danger or underfoot, we locked her in the guest bedroom while the workers were here.
I had not realized how disruptive it is to have a crew working here all day every day of the week. Though I am mostly happy with the almost done showers, it was an eye-opening experience to see the project come together.
There were times when I wondered if we’d made a terrible mistake choosing the bathroom remodelers that we chose. There were a few mishaps along the way but now the showers are almost done and I am happy with our choices.
One of the things that this experience has brought home to me, is how the labor shortage is impacting almost everyone. The plumbing company that did the work for us is slammed. Their guys are working long long days every day of the week and in our case, this led to a couple of the unexpected mistakes that had to be corrected. The remodeling company is having a hard time hiring experienced help and I did not envy the foreman of our project juggling people and projects as well as coordinating with the plumbing company that they work with.
It is a good time to practice radical kindness with everyone you meet my friends. You do not know what is going on in their lives. And a lot of people are struggling.
Stay Well if You Can
Our daughter who is a stroke coordinator for several metro and out-state hospitals told us of her visit to a local hospital on Friday. During her visit there Friday morning , she saw patients being cared for in a hallway (all of the rooms were full). While she was there four or five ambulances arrived with patients, and the Emergency Room had no more treatment rooms available.
One of the nurses she spoke with had worked a double shift (16 hours) the day before because of a shortage of staff and was back at the hospital less than 8 hours later to start another shift. By afternoon, my daughter reported that the hospital was “on divert” meaning that any patients who needed treatment were diverted elsewhere because they had no rooms available. She heard that all of the metro hospitals were completely full on Friday afternoon.
During our hospital experiences with my husband Jon, in late August/early September we experienced first-hand the shortage of staff, burnout that staff are experiencing, and communication errors that can occur during such high stress times.
So send a few prayers to those who are working so hard to care for the sickest among us. And take exquisite care of yourself too.
May you walk in beauty, today and always.
Wild turkeys on the far side of the pond
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