No Visits

I was tired last night and I remember turning off my radio at 9:30 pm, going to sleep and the next thing I realized it was 3:15 am. This is a very long stretch of sleep for me and being out in the hot sun all day yesterday did take its toll. I managed to stay in bed for an hour or so after that. After showering, an announcement came over the loudspeaker which stated all visits were cancelled today. Oh well, so much for having visits today. I was hoping my very good friend who I haven’t seen since last year would come today. He was supposed to come last week but that didn’t happen because I went to a fire. I know I will see him soon, it is only a matter of time.

The reasons the visits were cancelled today was that the CO’s are short staffed. Since there are so many crews out of the camp, they have to accompany these crews. My crew is the only one in camp this morning because the other crew who went out yesterday had to go back today as a precautionary measure. I felt bad for these guys because they departed early this morning and presumably will only be there to watch and see if the fire is completely out. This also means 2 crews from a different camp are here to cover any fire calls. My camp has an area of responsibility which must be manned by at least 2 crews at all times. These guys slept here on the grass last night and could be here for a few days.

The CO’s on duty were kind enough to turn the telephones on early so we could call anyone who was scheduled to visit to inform them visits had been cancelled today. I took this time to call my wife. I really wanted to call her yesterday, but could not since I was out on the fire. I did connect with her and we had a very good conversation. I told her about my decision to come in camp to be the bathroom porter. She seemed surprised since I did tell her I wasn’t going to pursue it. I explained my reasoning and she understood. She told me she was starting work tomorrow with a local attorney for a perfect part time job. The hours correspond with the children’s school hours. My sister and mother will watch them this week and I am so grateful for their love and support. She then informed me about an extraneous issue regarding the 401k which now has been rolled over to an IRA. This issue should be resolved as my wife follows up this week. Everything is indeed coming together.

I hung up and since it was approaching 7:00 am, I thought I would venture into the television room to watch the news. I was happy to see the local ABC affiliate was on and broadcasting the news. I learned that a very large hurricane is approaching Jamaica. My children and family were there 2 weeks ago and I thanked God they were not there today. Also, on the news was another wildfire in Lake Tahoe but this one looked contained. AS I was getting into the news the channel changed to a movie. The television schedule is set-up a day in advance and all the channel changes are programmed. I only got to watch 5 minutes of the news before the channel changed. Oh well, I had no interest in the movie and went outside to sit by the fountain.

As I was sitting by the fountain, a member of the crew came up to me and we started talking about the helicopter ride from yesterday. He told me that was the first time he was in any aircraft. He has never been on an airplane, let alone a helicopter. He was genuinely excited about the opportunity to have ridden on one. His face was full of excitement and I was moved. This does put many things in perspective for me because I have been on countless airplane rides ranging from a 747 to a 3 seater single engine airplane. I never took the time to appreciate all the events in my life until these past 2 ½ years. I am so grateful and I have a new outlook on life. I am certainly no better than any other person on this Earth and this journey continues to teach me everyday. This morning, talking with the crew member made me smile.

There is a book which is called DON’T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF; I have not read it but presumably it goes into what the title describes which is don’t let the small stuff bog you down. Today my book (just a metaphor) is titled BE GRATEFUL FOR THE SMALL STUFF. For me this is a huge key because it is fairly easy (sometimes) to be grateful for the big stuff such as wife, kids, God, house, career, etc. However, the small stuff goes unappreciated which leads to not appreciating the big stuff. This is where I was 2 ½ plus years ago, but today I appreciate my life tremendously. In a few days, I will turn 42 years of age and I am grateful for every one of these years because it is exactly as it is intended to be. I miss my family dearly, but I know in 6 ½ months I will be with them as a free man in so many different ways. The chains which have bound me over my life have been broken and through recovery, stay broken. I am repeating myself, but it is well worth repeating. My life today grows richer every moment – thanks to all the blessings in and around it. I am so grateful for everyone and everything in my life.