by Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie,
O, what a pannic’s in thy breastie!
Thou need na start awa sae hasty,
Wi’ bickering brattle!
I wad be laith to rin an’ chase thee,
Wi’ murd’ring pattle!
To A Mouse , on Turning Her Up in Her Nest With the Plough, Robert Burns November, 1785
Most of us do not believe in crystal balls as a way of telling the future but we (I) sure do believe in telling the future. You should have seen the plan of our trip that I foresaw! By now, I’d be wearing sandals, a skirt and sleeveless top while sitting outside playing my ukulele and sipping on a cold iced tea! I was convinced of the reality of my prescience. Instead, something monstrous happened…REALITY! I laugh as I write this but it hasn’t been funny a lot of the time. Yesterday’s drive to a nearby town to get more propane on icy, mountainside roads with no guard rails was not funny. Looking at the long range weather forecast is not funny. Being stuck inside a lot more than I had planned on with my trusty companion and mate, Larry, is not funny. After the required amount of sputtering, I have managed to put my big girl panties on and to look around to see what I can see instead of whining about what I am not seeing.
Bad weather has forced us to stay longer at Big Ridge and Edgar Evins State Parks in Tennessee. We have been the only people at the parks except for the rangers which is luxurious for an introvert like me. We’ve seen some beautiful sunsets, cooked some great meals, read some good books and taken some nice walks (all bundled up.) Mother nature has done her best to amaze us and I am grateful to have been able to receive what she has given.
And then, of course, the poem ends with “the best laid plans of mice and men go aft awry.
‘Tis a lesson of life, and one that is easily endured. I am shoveling snow, but I’m looking at the big snow flakes coming down on the evergreens, and the little juncos hurrying for food. Keep looking…and fair weather.