Captain's Log - Day 14 - Blessings in Disguise


Hello My Friends –

I hope you all had a good weekend, enjoyed some sunshine on Saturday and stayed safe and connected - all while remaining at a safe social distance.

As difficult as things are around the world right now, I consider us all extremely lucky. While all our lives have been disrupted and inconvenienced, we have the technology that allows us to work and continue to stay connected with friends and family. My friends and I used the Zoom app to play games together Saturday night (Left/Right/Center) and I’ve been able to connect with others through Face Time, FB messenger, a text or a good old fashion telephone call. I believe we all lucky to have everything we “need” (food, clothing, shelter) and we just need to handle the inconveniences of the situation and go without some of our “wants” for a while. To keep my sanity, I’ve limited my news consumption to 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes at night in order to stay informed. These 24 hour news channels basically repeat the same information all day long so get what you need and then turn it off. I guarantee it will be good for your mental health.

While reminiscing with friends over the weekend, we were all saying how much harder this would have been if we had to do this without the technology we have now. We were trying to remember how any of us were able to meet up in the days before cell phones. How did we ever find anyone down the beach? If we planned to meet “in the square” and someone didn’t show up at the agreed upon time, how long did we wait for them before eventually moving on with the plans and hoping they would catch up or standing around the pay phone waiting for someone to call it and let us know the new plan.

Right now we are being forced to adapt to this new normal and since there isn’t anything we can do about it, we need to find ways to make the best of the situation. The quicker we get everyone to do their part to stay isolated, the sooner we can get through this.

If you’ve ever seen the movie Evan Almighty, you might remember the scene where Morgan Freeman’s G-d character says:

Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient?
If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous?

If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?

We have been given this rare opportunity to slow down and, while the reason for it is scary and stressful, we should try to make the most of it and find all the blessings and opportunities it is providing us.

For your viewing pleasure, here are a few photos from the “most photographed church in Vermont.” I’m not surprised it has been given that distinction since I must have hundreds of it from every season over the past 30+ years. No matter how many times I’ve taken this photo, each one is unique whether because of the change in seasons, the lighting or the people there at that moment in time. If you’ve ever taken a foliage tour of Vermont, you would likely have made a stop here. It is located right up the road from my in-laws tree farm on Rt. 25 in Waits River. I’ve seen it on calendars, placemats, postcards, puzzles and all sorts of tourist materials.

We always got a good laugh when our crazy neighbor thought she could prevent people from taking pictures of the church by posting a sign saying “views from this property are registered, photographing them is against the law.” Sorry Ms. Morrison - the views are there for all of us to enjoy.

I hope you take the opportunity to slow down and enjoy some new views.













Please reach out if you need help with anything.

Peace out, my friends.