The Window

In December of 2008, we spent a couple of weeks buried in snow. It was possible to go out on the roads, but between the ruts and all the cars in the ditches it didn't seem like a good idea. However, my husband needed to go into work, so I was stuck at home with the girls--and I got bored.

That is when I rearranged our whole bedroom by myself...king-size bed, armoire...I admit, it was a moment of insanity. It was a good change, though, and our room has stayed the way it is since then. Or maybe it's just that without getting snowed in for a couple of weeks, my insanity has stayed away.

When I moved the furniture, we discovered that our master bedroom window was foggy. Thankfully, a friend suggested we call the manufacturer, and the company replaced our window for free. That was a happy moment while we were facing job loss early last year.

We've loved our new window, but we did notice that when it gets windy a piece of molding on the outside rattles. It is annoying, but since we seldom have windy days, it hasn't been a big deal.

Or so I thought.

Last night was our second windy night in a row. The first night sent an entire tree down onto a house in the area. Last night wasn't much different. I was soundly sleeping through it, however, until the rattle woke me up. It was loud, like a motorcycle right out my window. My body really wanted to get back to sleep, but each time I started to relax, the noise woke me up again. Finally, at 1:30, I surrendered. I grabbed my blanket and pillow and headed to the couch. My husband sleepily promised to fix it in the morning, but it didn't mean much as I looked forward to a night downstairs.

As I tried to get comfortable on the couch, I realized I could stew about the whole situation, or I could be thankful. For the ability to hear the rattles. For a comfortable, weatherproof house. For my whole little family safely asleep. For a healthy body. For heating to keep our house comfortable in a storm. For the magic of wind (which I have always thought of as God's broom....).

In a time when so many are suffering such tremendous loss and grief, I cannot be grumpy about a rattling window. I am so thankful for that window, rattles and all.