“Keep your face always toward the sunshine and shadows will fall behind you.” Walt Whitman

Thank you all so much for your kind words re: the flood.  To answer some of your questions and concerns

• bar a couple of wet pairs of shoes, most of my belongings are safe.  Fortunately I was home and managed to throw things on the bed/couch/dining table
• furniture is wet and miserable due to sitting in puddles of water
• carpet in the bedroom smells revolting hence rendering the apt uninhabitable.  In turn rendering me homeless for the time being
• new house settles in approx. 48 hours, but is undergoing some renovation over the next few weeks so that's uninhabitable also (smell of wet paint and wood polish is better than the smell of dirty wet rotting carpet though)
• I have realised how fickle life and material belongings are.  Everything can be destroyed within 20 minutes and you're powerless to stop it.  I look at the mountains of "things" I managed to "save" from the rising water and think "what is all this stuff?".  Was very tempted to throw everything out bar a pair of trousers, 3 tops and a pair of ballerinas.
• I've also realised how cool I am in a crisis.  I'm getting used to disasters, sadly.  I did break down on Sunday night when it all really sunk in.  Thank goodness for my husband who always catches me when I fall. 
• Please, please, please ensure you have insurance.  Use my experience as an audit.  Ensure your policy covers floods/natural disasters/acts of God.  Do it now! A few hundred dollars in premiums a year may seem like a luxury many of us cannot afford or deem a waste of money, but it's a necessity that will put your mind at ease.  Disasters can happen to anyone.  And they do.

via tumblr