Perspectives from the Northwest

Daylight truly does show the realities the night cloaks. As you may be aware we’ve gotten a lot of wind and rain recently. We’re on fairly high ground here, and have been lucky. But I looked out the window this morning and found the water was a bit higher, and closer, than what I had thought.

I went shopping yesterday morning at the local Wal-Mart in Chehalis. I was just going to do our regular weekly shopping, but with the forecasts I thought it might be better to take some time to stock up on some things. Watching the aerial views about an hour ago, I saw that very same Wal-Mart under water. A scary feeling.

I’m hearing the helicopters and small planes overhead this afternoon. The sun is starting to peek through the clouds.

I’m glad to be an early morning person because I was able to get out for a bit yesterday. It did appear that about half the cashiers had called in because of the flooding and by the time I got to check out, it was a back-up cashier who apparently starting working about a month ago. The person assisting with the bagging had also started around the same time.

Yes, the checkout was slow, but at least they were they to help get the people out. I remembered to thank them. Yes, they were there, but would the get home last night? I hope they did. I sometimes thing we don’t thank people enough for the small things, like bagging and being there to do their jobs. Yes, we were all a little stressed, and I know they wanted to be out of there as much as I did. But they showed up and they stayed and did there best, and I know that I for one appreciated that.

I heard on the news last night before I went to bed, about a woman who called for assistance because she was in labor. Emergency crews were unable to get to her. I have to say I worried about her and wondered what happened. I was happy to hear that there were some volunteer firemen stranded in the same area and they were able to get to her and help her. Thank Goodness. So thank you for the big things, too.

I also so that there were some salmon stranded on city streets and watched and encouraged as they swam toward deeper water. You could hear the people shouting encouragement to the poor things and applauding as they succeeded. Salmon are a good poster child for never giving up, no matter how great the odds of success seem to be.

In any crisis trying to find the good and the strength that comes out of it is the way to survive. The sun does shine eventually.

My husband was at work yesterday and is still stranded on the coast. He had to use a pay phone to reach me because there’s apparently a tower down somewhere and his cell phone wasn’t working. Several hours later I received a call from his customer (hubby refinishes wood floors for a living) and she wanted to assure me he was all right just in case I hadn’t heard from him, and to offer me a place to stay if our house was in danger of flooding.


The light shines through any storm, any disaster if we can just take the time to look for it.

Adrianna