Lost in the shuffle

I would say that we are pretty much back to normal both at home and at work. I know that some of my neighbors and co-workers are still without power, though. Some things inside the house got shuffled around while the power was out—they’re slowly finding their way back to where they belong. Candles perched in various places. Extension and phone cords draped over chairs and countertops. Batteries strewn about. Things unplugged. Stuff like that. I went on a big grocery run to restock our fridge, which for the past several days has held only margarine, milk, maple syrup and ice.

Cut up trees, bags of debris and bundles of limbs still line the streets, which makes them seem very narrow. School started back up again this morning in many places.

A lot of people are now having to deal with insurance companies or getting fallen trees removed. We found half a shingle in our front yard. We’re not sure it’s ours, but we will have to have the roof inspected at some point. Once things return to normal, probably. Whatever that is. I haven’t been to the gym in 10 days, so I think today’s the day to get back into the routine. I’m still trying to settle back into my writing regimen. This weekend I mostly took care of organizational matters. Got some stories submitted to new markets, wrote a proposal for a non-fiction piece, worked on a book review.

One piece of news that sort of got lost in the shuffle during the past week was Rick Wright’s death from cancer. Pink Floyd has formed part of the soundtrack of the last thirty years of my life, ever since I “discovered” them during my first year at university. I hadn’t heard that he was sick, so his death came as a sad surprise.

I also read this morning that Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books, died from suicide after suffering depression.