Finding the morning paper in the yard has been a game of Where’s Waldo due to the high winds.

That’s better than this spring when some neighbors saw their trash can floating down the street in the flood waters.

The worst was the ice storm because I forgot to plug in my cell phone before the electricity went out on that Tuesday. So I drove around town to charge my phone up, then shot ice photos all over town and the phone was back at 54 % . That didn’t last long after, I sent a text, a couple of photos, and checked in with a couple of friends.

When the electricity didn’t come on by 5 p.m. I worried that I might not get to see the two-hour season premiere of “This Is Us,” but later that night I just wanted to be warm.

I’d started out the morning being grateful.

Grateful for a home.

A comfortable home.

A warm home.

Warm pajamas,

Warm house shoes.

Grateful for Tuxedo kitty.

Grateful that she sat on my lap, let me pet her, and didn’t bite me.

Grateful I didn’t have COVID.

I should have been grateful for electricity that morning, and I assure you I was when it came on 24 hours later.

Back then I would’ve thought I’d be grateful that the election is over, but I’m not, and I guess it’s not over, though I thought I heard the fat lady warming up.

Then the other evening a friend, who I’ll call John, called with a news bulletin. He said the governor and all of the state health officials said Oklahoma has run out of hospital beds, and we should all just stay home and die in our beds.

Hey, I’m just repeating what he said because I’ve limited to one news report a day, though the the TV is on 24/7.

I do check the papers though, and go out in my pajamas in the mornings to hunt for the paper.

I fill my afternoons between TV commercials by checking the mailbox two or three times.

This morning I noticed that my Momma’s red roses are still blooming.

It made me smile, and gave me a case of the feel goods.