Stuff! Stuff! and more Stuff!

I live in a community on the coast in south Georgia and we have what seems to be an annual hurricane event. This year as we await Hurricane Dorian, my home is on the side of the county where evacuation is has been declared voluntary; this doesn’t make it less stressful, just different. I have posted before about the fact that I try to find the silver lining in every cloud.  So, of course, I am searching for things to be happy about as I hunker down watching what seems like non-stop weather news on every local channel.

First of all, I am declaring this Hurri-cation 2019.  That certainly puts a positive spin on it, right? The long Labor Day weekend has now been greatly extended; schools, grocery stores, malls, government offices are all closed, so families are spending time together. It isn’t really a “-cation” of any sort, but Hurri-cation certainly sounds better than “mandatory, forced evacuation”, at least in my thinking!

I am a very reflective person most of the time, and facing the threat of a huge and powerful hurricane certainly got me thinking about priorities.  The first worry is always for family, friends, and pets. I will have immediate family with me: husband, son, daughter-in-law, and my Yorkie. The rest of my family members live far from this hurricane’s reach. 

So now, on to the topic of this post: STUFF!  If we evacuate, or if we stay, either way I have to deal with the subject of possessions…fondly referred to as “stuff” for the remainder of this post. Dealing with my “stuff” gives me a great big headache, for sure.  

I remember years ago George Carlin did a hysterically funny bit on “stuff”.  I still laugh every time I think about it.  The gist of his routine was that we surround ourselves with stuff.  We keep all of our stuff in a “box” called an apartment, a condo, a home.  As we age, we buy more “stuff” and then have to buy a bigger “box” (house) to hold our expanding collection of stuff.  We find ourselves sitting happily in our “box” surrounded by our stuff.

Now, that is all true until something out of the ordinary happens…like Hurricane Dorian!  When the annual hurricane(s) arrive, I am faced with the prospect of traveling OR putting all the important “stuff” up high and surrounding it with sandbags!  YIKES!! That is when the trouble starts! Now I am faced with the horrible decision about which pieces of our “stuff” are important and which can be sacrificed to the storm surge, gale force winds, or flooding. Color me stressed!

I am sitting in my house today surrounded by my “treasures”; I am certain that my collection is much too valuable to be referred to as simple “stuff”. I know, go ahead, it’s okay to giggle; I’m giggling now too. Anyway,  I keep wondering how in the world I am going to prioritize my lifetime’s collection of treasures.  

So as I sit here today, I have done everything recommended; critical paperwork is sealed in a waterproof envelope and in a safe, medicines are filled, the pantry is stocked with non-perishable food, batteries are replaced, water is stockpiled.  Yet, I still feel a sense of heaviness. My home is a single floor in an area that is about two feet above sea level. If we have a flood, can I save my grandmother’s china hutch or the antique tea cart?  What about my mother’s grandfather clock?  My father’s desk, the pictures from my trip to Russia (taken before photos became digital)…the list goes on.

Well, I have a choice to make. I can either sit and worry about my “treasures” or I can focus on celebrating the fact that I have my true treasures around me: the people that I love and who love me. I choose the latter.  So, here’s to my Hurri-cation 2019.  I choose gratitude…I choose joy!