from the desk of...

...if only you knew what i was thinking

I am house-sitting tonight at Ramona's, writing to you from the very computer where she composes her fabulous ideas.  There is the infamous "How to Toilet Train Your Cat" book on  the shelf above me.

But I am not here to write about this very nice home or the wonderful family that lives in it.

Tonight I am writing about some guys I saw tonight.  Guys in electric company trucks from North Carolina entering the highway from a restaurant/gas stop and caravaning to the I-95 interchange to go to Dade and Broward counties. (Yes, there may be women on these crews but for the most part it's men who come with wire and tools to reconnect us to the world.)

I beeped like a yahoo.  I let them know about my appreciation.

They left their loved ones after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and stayed forever to give us back our lives.  Now they are here again so little kids can have fresh cold milk and old people can leave the shelter and go home to pets they haven't seen for two days. 

These men's wives, lovers and children are doing without them so Broward County school teachers can have hot showers Monday morning and the local power company co-workers can go home to cold beer.  Parents can feed warm eggs to their kids before school again.

These are luxuries we have come to think that we cannot live without.  They are not God-given rights but they are something we are spoiled to.

Some people deserve everything you can give them in the way of appreciation, even if it's just a passing "honk-honk-honk." 

Tomorrow I go back to work and back to normal.  Just south of here, that's a gift that's on it's way to someone with a leaky roof and no electricity.

Thanks.