NATURAL FORCES - My Weekend "Off"

A blogger's work is never done—or so I've often thought this first year, while posting something new more or less every third day.

But one's priorities have a way of changing when certain natural forces come into play—forces like grandchildren and hurricanes.

Here I am in Boston, enjoying the fifth birthday celebration of my granddaughter and the christening of my one-and-a-half-year-old grandson. The party—planned as a back-yard cookout—took place yesterday, despite one hefty party crasher: hurricane Irene.

One's priorities have a way of changing when certain natural forces come into play—forces like grandchildren and hurricanes. 

The increasing downpours couldn't dampen spirits, since most of the kids' activities involved water anyway. Still, we had to move the picnic part indoors, and that was a little tight, especially with the tropical stillness of the air. Bottom line: the birthday girl seemed to have a wonderful time! Others, even if they didn't have fun, will still remember the day they had the cookout as a hurricane bore down on them.

Today was supposed to be the christening, but this time Irene wasn't going to be denied. Winds are gusting to over 60 miles per hour. Thousands of trees are down, including one that fell right across the back yard here—right where we were all playing yesterday at this time.

Given the theme of One Man's Wonder, maybe we could call it research.

Nearly a quarter million homes are now without power in Massachusetts. And the powers-that-be in the local Congregational church have declared all "business" closed for the day. So we'll try again for tomorrow morning. Looks like Irene will be petering out somewhere over Quebec by then, so we should be okay for the second big event of the weekend.

So, you see, I have a couple of perfectly good excuses for missing my self-imposed deadline of yesterday for a new post. To those of you who may have been counting on something profound, I hope you'll accept this hastily prepared excuse.

Believe me, I haven't just been goofing off. Between spending time with my wonderful, beloved grand-kids, pitching in to help with the party, and marveling at the power of a small hurricane, I've had my hands full.

Come to think of it, given the theme of One Man's Wonder, maybe we could call it research.