November 2, 2021

November 2, 2021

As I listened to the churning of the generators (not ours), I couldn't help think of the little things…

…this nor'easter did not hit mid-Winter

…we could get out and walk (sort of)

…in our house, solar power lasted about 30 hours and I was able to teach yoga Wednesday morning

…groceries stores were open and charging stations

…an Andi's People event took place all day Thursday – I set up my Andi's People table at the South Shore Women Conference….

With the car packed the night before (while we had remaining solar power lights and electricity), I set out at 5:30 Thursday morning. My first time driving since Tuesday evening.

Halfway down Bay Road, yellow caution tape marked the closed road.

I turned around and tried a few more roads out, and finally made it to Route 3A, Exit 20, and a packed morning of commuter traffic.

Apparently, our black-out was limited to coastal areas. Traffic inched along slowly. The Quincy Marriot was business as usual, the parking lot full. My journey from darkness seemed an oddity.

I set up and settled in and was warmly welcomed…it had been a few years since I had brought Andi's People on the road.

All day I had deliberated…will the conference be cancelled? Should I go? Should I stay?

But we had solar power on Wednesday so after teaching virtual yoga, I began to assemble my things. I packaged more cards and checked off my list.

Thursday morning at 7:30 am, I was set up and ready.

I met a lot of people on Thursday. I was encouraged. People saw Andi’s People as the ageless, whimsical people that I created so many years ago.

Many asked, ‘Tell me your story….'

They were born in my high school Geometry book…

I moved to Hawaii and needed a unique and special thank you card to send to each person who signed my cards, who showed up at a going-away party…I couldn’t find one…

so I made my own… a Hawaiian boy with long legs and flipflops, shorts and an Aloha shirt carrying sunglasses…and on the front “Mahalo” for thank you…a copyright….

They’re simple little people. They’re perfectly imperfect. They make me think of a little collage I created still tacked to my bulletin board in my little studio…

“I myself am made entirely of flaws

Stitched together with good intentions.”

-Augusten Burroughs

I love that quote.

I know that note-writing is not for everyone… when it is so easy to text or email.

But I was delighted to hear that there is a note-writing comeback, maybe it’s a by-product of Covid and quarantining, but business owners want to send notes that are not 'on brand’, that are simple, personal notes  that simply say, ‘I appreciatre you.’

As I finished writing this email in my journal a few days ago, Louie, our cancer-surviving three-legged cat nestled beside me, 

and a gray, non-solar-energy-producing sky promised no more battery power for days.