Groaning Pine Lake

Groaning Pine Lake

Last evening I stayed up way too late working on a quilting project. When I finally crawled into bed at 2 am I was kept awake by the groaning lake sounds. For those of you who have never been around a lake as it freezes in the fall it makes all kinds of groaning and cracking sounds as it makes ice. Usually you hear this in the fall more than the spring but last night’s temperature dropped to around 20 degrees after a week of nearly 50 degrees. So the lake started making ice again. It moaned and groaned all night long. This is not a soft quiet groaning but rather loud because you can hear it easily with all the doors and windows closed and nearly 125′ from the lake. This morning when I walked down to the lake to take the picture it was still groaning but not as loudly since the temps are near 40 degrees now. It won’t be long now before the ice goes out on the lake. In our area it usually happens around April 15 each spring. I can hardly wait to hear the waves crashing on the shore.

 

Middle of the Night Madness

Night Cross Country

Tonight I’m having one of those sleepless nights. It usually starts with a discussion of some sort right before bedtime that gets your mind rolling on some subject or another. As a mother of four kids, now all adults, there were many sleepless nights wondering when they would be home and are they safe. There were sleepless nights when there were medical conditions of family members to worry about and nights when the excitement of next day plans have kept me awake.

I usually climb out of my warm bed and find the recliner in the livingroom and a warm blanket to wrap up in. The process begins… Read a book in hopes of getting tired enough to sleep. Watch a little TV or maybe just lay down on the couch where I can’t hear my husband breathing deeply as he peacefully sleeps while I lie awake. Once in awhile I make myself some hot chocolate. I don’t know if it helps me fall asleep but it sure warms me up.

Lately when I am awake I try writing for awhile. I write about the days events or maybe what is keeping me awake. The laptop makes it so easy to start writing because you don’t need paper and pen or even have to worry about writing neat. I’m a former school teacher so neatness matters to me. I expected it of my students as well as myself.

Tonight I am awake because I am thinking about things I can not change and how to make the best of circumstances. I am a problem solver by nature so it is frustrating to me when I come upon something that is causing pain for someone and I cannot fix it. I want to ease their load but that is not always possible but I try. I read a recent quote somewhere and it went something like “Don’t be yourself, be someone better” As difficult as that is, I will try to go beyond where I think I should be under the circumstances. Try to be a little nicer, more understanding than what I think the situation calls for from me and in the end maybe small change is possible where I thought none was possible.