Strange picture for a blog post I know, but I really wasn’t sure what else to put that would be suiting. This is the new outlet Jeff installed in his shop after we had an electrical fire last week. We were chatting orders in his shop when we both smelled something and knew it was something electrical burning. We searched all over to find out where it was coming from, meanwhile it blew a fuse and the electricity went out in part of the shop, and then when turning it back on (because we needed to find where it was coming from) we found a plug to a charger that was too hot. We unplugged that, but it didn’t take care of the problem.

The fuse was blown a second time, power turned back on and I discovered another plug that was too hot, in the same outlet. So it wasn’t either of those devices that were plugged in, it was the outlet. We turned off the electricity, Jeff took off the cover and we investigated with a flashlight. It was all black and charred inside there. Luckily, Jeff knows how to fix that sort of thing, so he bought a new outlet and installed it. Problem solved, but it was incredibly nerve wracking while it was happening. We were so lucky that we were at home when that happened!

At the beginning of last week we found out that Jeff’s Aunt Isla was in the hospital and wasn’t going to make it, then we were told that she had passed away. We planned to go to the funeral, but she didn’t want to have one, so we’ve been honoring her memory in our own way. She was such a dear, dear woman and we will all miss her. She was one of Jeff’s few family members that he was close to and she loved him unconditionally throughout his life. She had a such a big heart. She constantly sent us cards and I’m looking at the blanket she knit for Bracken while I write this. She read my blog, leaving me so many kind comments over the years and sending me e-mails, and I will really, really miss hearing from her. She was a gem of a person, that’s for sure.

I told my mom the news about Jeff’s aunt, we talked that night before she went to bed, and the next morning I got an e-mail from her saying that she was in the hospital. You can imagine how I felt when I read those words. With extreme stomach pains, they thought it was her gallbladder, and seeing the word gallbladder might me breathe a little deeper, but only slightly. I didn’t like being so far away from her, I wanted to be taking care of her while she was in the hospital, I wanted to be there with her. They ran lots of tests, and while we were waiting to hear the news, my sweet grandmother e-mailed my sister and I that she was going to be flying down to take care of my mom. Bless her! What a relief that was to know my mom would be in good hands. My mom had surgery to get her gallbladder removed and now she is back home and on the mend. She wrote “Apparently there isn’t a “too old” for your mommy to come take care of you! Thanks Mommy!!”

Last week was a stressful one. Then again, the last year (and beyond) has been pretty stressful too. I was chatting with our friend Fiona one day at market about all the things that were breaking down at that time around our house and she said something along the lines of “Oh no! You’re having an electro-apocalypse!” She went on to explain that the spring of ’13 was the Redmon Family electro-apocalypse. “Funny now but then was a bit traumatizing.” So I am borrowing her phrase here, because it is so perfect. Oh goodness, when I think about this last year and all the things that have broken, it’s a bit crazy. Sitcom material, really. (It’s a regular occurrence around here for things to be breaking down all the time and it’s a part of life, I know, but the degree to which things have this last year has been a whole new ballpark.) We had other challenges, and then you add everything breaking down at once… oh my!

Let’s see what I can think of off the top of my head…

One day I was in the kitchen when the lights flashed and at the same time I saw sparks fly out of our transformer in the front yard. I heard a popping sound like a lightbulb exploded and I ran around the house flicking the lights off while Jeff ran out to the garage/shop to turn our power off. When a guy from the power company came out to see what was happening, he discovered that a wire had been damaged and there was no ground on our electricity, thus the resulting major power surge, which was really dangerous. Thankfully our computers were okay. Most of our lightbulbs needed replacing and some chargers as well. A critical tool was damaged, which took awhile to get sorted out. But again, thank goodness we were home at the time.

Let’s see what else… Our bandsaw broke. Our weedeater broke. Our washing machine broke. Our heater broke. A second heater broke. We discovered a leak under our sink. (Okay, I know not all of these things fit in the electro-apocalypse category, but now I’m just going on a roll with all the things that have broken.) We learned that our wood shed was falling apart and needed to be replaced sooner than we ever imagined it would. I shared the story here recently of our alternator belt going out in our car. Our water stopped working multiple times throughout the year, with Jeff fixing various parts to get it going again. The most recent time he came out to see that there was a leak in the pipe going to our water tank, with a swamp surrounding it. The tank had been filling up with water, leaking out, filling up with water, repeat. Now our stove has been on the fritz for awhile and we know which burners to use and that we can’t leave food cooking unattended because it might start cooking on high even when you’ve got it set to low. What else? My brain stopped filing them away.

Some things are a quick and easy fix, but most are not. Often times it takes days to fix something, days that Jeff isn’t able to work for the business. I have multiple memories of him waking up in the morning all rearing to go to get a lot of things created in his shop, only to come to a halt and have to be tinkering and fixing something when he’d much rather be doing something else. Of course, there’s other times when the inconveniences seem like a blessing in disguise. Like the low tire Jeff had on the way to town, so he turned back around to come home and fill it with air. He was grumbling about the hassle and the wasted time, but when he returned home later he was singing a different tune. He told us the story of the car accident that he very likely could have been a part of if he hadn’t turned back around when he did. When he got to town and saw it wasn’t a low tire but a flat tire, a kind guy at the place he went to fixed it for free and Jeff could hardly believe his all around good fortune that day.

I know that our home is old, so we’re bound to have things break down. I know that we often buy things secondhand, which means we might have to replace them more often. (Jeff says: “they don’t make ’em like they used to!”) I know that we’ve chosen a career path that makes it so we can only replace so many broken things at once and sometimes we just have to live without things for awhile. I know this. But it doesn’t make it any less challenging in the midst of it. So, why am I writing all of this? Because seeing the ridiculousness of it all, by actually starting a list of sorts, is good comic relief for me. For some reason, it’s therapeutic to write it all down.

The solution to it all? That I do not know, not a big answer anyway. But I do know the daily one. Humor. And music. They can really work wonders, I tell you. We keep doing our best and keep working hard, but when we feel too bogged down or discouraged by it all? We seek out something funny to lighten the load. So, if you’re experiencing an electro-apocalypse (or other such rough patch), don’t worry. It’s gotta end sometime. (Right? Please tell me it does.) In the meantime, watch something funny and laugh. Laugh until you cry and then laugh some more. It will give you some fresh perspective and remind you that it’s not the end of the world, it’s just some stuff breaking down or another challenge you’re facing, even if it feels huge at the time. And then crank up some music and sing your heart out. (That’s what Bracken and I have been doing in the car lately.) Sing loud and just sing it all out. Feel better? Now just as long as the device you’re watching something funny on and your music player are still working, you’re all good. (And if not, perhaps it’s just time to throw in the towel and embrace the pioneer life?)