Next week Mike and I have decided to go away for a couple of nights and I decided it would be a good idea to not take my technology. Leave it all behind. Go off the grid. When I told Mike this he looked at me in amazement. No blog? No cell phone?
Nope. No blog. No cell phone.
We can take Mike’s cell phone in case of emergency but mine can stay behind.
I dare me.
Go screenless for a couple of days. Take a walk. Follow Mike around the golf course. Read a book….yes…a real paper book with pages and a book marker and everything.
See what it is like to live for a few days like I lived back in 1996. I got my first cell phone in 1997 and I remember taking it with me to Carmel and someone phoning me while Mike and I were walking through a forest. There in the middle of nowhere, I answered the phone and was immediately transported back to work…dealing with issues. It was remarkable that it was possible. So much has happened since. Technology has progressed in leaps and bounds and I have to admit, I’m pretty addicted to have my cell phone by my side. I’m going to ditch it for a few days.
See what that is like.
And I won’t blog for a couple of days. What I will do is journal. I’ll write, with a pen and onto a page and track my thoughts and feelings. I think I will write a lot less because putting pen to paper takes a lot longer. Will I post it on my blog? I don’t know. I’ll see.
But it will be an interesting exercise. I love writing and when I am relaxed, the writing comes easier.
So expect me to be off the grid from next week Tuesday to Thursday. Back on Friday 16th.
What an experience that will be.
I’m looking forward to it.
I have to say that an ominous atmosphere has settled over Cape Town with the warnings for flooding and severe storm damage having never been so high. Schools in the Western Cape are closed tomorrow with everyone warned to stay at home.
Mike and I made sandbags and loaded them up against the outside door to offset the possibility of flooding…
Already the wind has picked up and there is a bank of clouds blowing in from the north.
I remember in 1995, Mike and I had just built our master bedroom on top of the garage and we were spending our first winter in it. A huge storm came over and we woke up wondering if the roof was going to blow off. We actually moved downstairs for fear that it would. It didn’t, but other houses lost their roofs that night. On the next fair-weather day, Mike reinforced the roof with more hurricane clips. We have never had a storm quite like it since. I asked Mike this evening whether he thought the upstairs roof (where I am actually sitting now) was safe enough. If it gets too bad we’ll move downstairs.
We also checked our gutters were not blocked. They look okay. I hope it won’t be as bad as the authorities fear…
Here it comes! The wind is getting a whole lot stronger now.
It’s going to be interesting to look up next week’s dam levels for Cape Town. Here they are from yesterday’s reading…
Stay safe everyone.
#316 of my 1000 thanks is for a roof over my head.
Through the storm, we can trust God.
Isaiah 25:4
For You have been a defense for the helpless, A defense for the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat..
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂