Weary Dreary Christmas

 Weary Dreary Christmas

I already knew that Christmas Day would be unremarkable. My family had already celebrated the holiday last Saturday so that we could all be together. My son Andrew and his family were going to spend Christmas in New Mexico with his wife Renee’s parents. Because of her father’s health problems, I fully understood and supported their decision. There was no question about that.
My daughter Amanda and her husband Eric hosted the Christmas celebration at their home last Saturday and my other daughter Anna was hosting the celebration for my son-in-law’s family yesterday, so I was on my own. I live alone and was used to that way of life. There was no problem.
The rain came and the fog swirled around my house making the day seem drearier than it would have been with a light coating of snow. Clouds covered the sun with thick gray clouds that made the day seem even darker. Drips of water blurred the world around me.
When I woke about 6:30 am, and after reading my Bible, I tried to post the Scripture verse of the day and my blog post. I said try, because there was no internet connection. I was facing Christmas Day with limited connection with the outside world. My house instantly became more unfriendly and merely a dry shelter from the cold and wet outside.
I called the emergency number for my cable provider to report the outage. The voice on the phone took my information, saying, “Because of the holiday, it may be down until tomorrow.” There was nothing more I could do but make breakfast and continue to read The Hobbit. It was a book that I’d first read over fifty years ago while I was in the United States Navy.
I did feel isolated with no land line phone, no television, and no internet, but resolved to make the best of it and was able to add a few more paragraphs to s story I am writing about the biblical story of the Good Samaritan.
My isolation only lasted until about 1 pm. I received a call on my cell phone. It was my internet and phone company workman who was on call. He was going to come to my house to troubleshoot the problem. The problem was in the modem. It was not functioning. Once it was replaced and reconnected, I was now in touch with the world around me.
I would like to thank the serviceman who was able to come to my home and make the repair on the holiday. As a retired nurse, I understood the burden of having to work on the holidays. Merry Christmas.