Disappointed

I'm sure everyone has looked forward to something with great anticipation only to be disappointed. Well, I"m disappointed right now. I'm home sitting at this computer and not at our campsite on Fall's Lake. Oh, our stuff is there, but we're not because the rain won't stop. We had a beautiful day yesterday with temperatures climbing into the 80's, and the forecast was for a 30% chance of showers last night and a 50% chance today, so we thought we'd take a chance on going to the campsite and not cancelling our reservation made several weeks ago. So I took the day off, gathered all the gear and food, and we headed out mid-afternoon. After setting up camp, we were just about to eat dinner when the rain started falling; it had been sunny only an hour earlier. We quickly stretched a tarp over our screened tent over the picnic table or we would have gotten soaked while eating. The rain continued unabated through the night, tossing in one pretty good thunderstorm that woke us up. In the morning, our tent was sitting in about an inch of water. Thankfully, our air mattress was on top of 2 cots, so we were dry, but the water had made the soil under the tent mushy and had ponded at one end of the tent.
My disappointment doesn't some so much that we're not camping but that our grandsons won't get the experience. Two of them were going to join us today and spend tonight in another tent, which we thankfully had not yet set up. With a stream of showers heading in our direction, Bob and I decided to come home (the campsite is only 13 miles away) and take it easy in our dry house. I fixed bacon and eggs on our camp stove and brewed coffee for breakfast, but I was literally standing in an inch of mud as the rain continued to fall after a break in the wee hours of the morning. Those conditions were no place for a 10-year-old, a 5-year-old and a 3-year-old. The fishing and canoeing that we had planned aren't happening, and I'm bummed.
We'll be going to our son's house for dinner, and a tent will be erected in the play room over the garage for the kids to sleep in to ease their disappointment. The boys especially have been talking about nothing else for the last week - camping with Nana and sleeping in a tent. I'll leave the loaf of cinnamon raisin bread that I made so they can have French toast with it in the morning.
Bob and I will return to the campsite tomorrow morning; the rain is supposed to end tonight, but I don't want to sleep in a wet tent standing in mud. We may fix breakfast there if things have dried out enough, but we'll have to dismantle the campsite even if things are still wet. Our son and the boys will join us if the weather has broken, and maybe we'll get in some fishing, canoeing, and cooking over the campfire before we have to vacate the site.
No more long-range planning of camping trips for me. If it's a nice weekend, we'll simply go for one night on the spur of the moment. November in North Carolina can be quite nice temperature wise. In the meantime, Bob is napping, and I'm going to work on my Bible study of the Book of James.

I'm back - I'll be posting on both this blog and on www.AmandasHope.com - this blog allows me to keep track of my viewers.  Please keep reading!  You make it worthwhile! 

What a day! Today I've worked 7.75 hours (spent 1.5 hours of those looking for something that didn't exist but in the mind of an attorney in another office!); came home; scraped the mortar smoothe between the stones on the patio (don't ask me to explain); washed and dried 2 loads of laundry (well, the last load is now in the dryer); fixed dinner (fortunately, it was only for me so leftovers sufficed; Bob was at a meeting); watered the outdoor potted plants (we need rain again); did an aerobic workout, my first since my second back surgery a little over a year ago; paid a bill on-line; balanced the checkbook; and am now writing this blog. And what in all of this has eternal value? I'm not sure any of it does, but it's life.
As I was searched the file at work today, thumbing through correspondence and e-mails only to find out that it wasn't our problem if someone else couldn't find something in their file, I felt like I had been chasing the wind! Life is sometimes like that - chasing the wind. So many things need to get done, and when all's said and done, what has really been accomplished? Well, the patio looks better, the laundry basket is empty (but only for about 2 hours), I'm not hungry, the plants will survive another day, the power company won't shut off my power, and I know how much money we have in our checking account -- and to do aerobics for the first time in over a year simply made me feel good! Yet it all feels like chasing the wind! So much of life is necessary but seemingly pointless! Does anyone else feel that way?
I have 1082 days until I can retire at age 66, and I've got plans to do things that I can't find the time to do now -- writing more books will be one of them. Volunteering will be another, as will spending more time with our kids and grandkids. They are growing up too fast! More time in Bible study is also on the list. Traveling is not a priority for me; I haven't seen much of the State of North Carolina yet, so I would like to visit my back yard, so to speak. In the meantime, I'll have to keep chasing the wind and pray that God will bless the work of my hands in the doing of everyday life.