Yeah, I know. It’s been a while. Bad Blog Monday has morphed into No Blog Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday for a few months now. The real answer is that I feel like I haven’t had many thoughts worthy of writing down. Maybe I’m just tired. Many would agree that 2020 has been exhausting. Maybe I’m being too hard on myself. Maybe I’m down in the dumps because no matter how hard I try, stuff just seems to fall apart or go any way but according to plan. Maybe it’s something else. I’ve never claimed to have it together or to understand the ever-changing circumstances of my life.

August 10, 2020 brought the infamous Derecho storm to the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, my current residence. Power was out for almost two weeks on my street. As if 2020 hadn’t hurt enough businesses and Americans already, a rare land hurricane did not help matters in Iowa. It will be a long time before we recover.

I was at one of my jobs when the storm warnings started coming in. Thankfully, everyone was sent home before the 100+ mph winds and rain swept through a city unprepared for hurricane-like conditions. I waited out the storm in the bathroom with the dogs. My parents had my nephew and didn’t make it home before the winds hit their worst. They were stuck in their car outside their house, praying they didn’t tip over or get hit by debris. It wasn’t safe to make a run for the house. Back at my house, it wasn’t long before large thuds and crashing sounds began competing with the wind. One large crash brought with it a loss of power that wouldn’t be restored for two weeks.

As the winds died down and the rain stopped, I ventured out of my bathroom to survey the damage. I wasn’t prepared for what I would find. Neighbor’s cars and homes crushed or severely damaged by fallen trees. My neighbor’s beautiful tree came inches from taking out my garage. My beautiful tree narrowly missed my house. Thank God for that. My roof was thrashed. Water was coming into the laundry room, but that was nothing compared to what many others within the city were being face with: total loss.

About an hour after the worst of it passed, I witnessed the reason the term “Midwest Nice” exists. I met neighbors I’d never spoken to before because I keep to myself mostly. The street was blocked on both ends by trees, but people came out of the woodwork to help each other. When I left to walk to my sister’s house down the street to check on her, a (still) unknown neighbor finished piling up the debris in my yard for me.

And then we all waited to get power back. The next morning, I grabbed my flashlight and propped it up in the bathroom before taking a cold shower. Nothing like a cold shower to wake you right up in the morning. But I had a shower. Then I walked into the kitchen to make coffee like usual. Ahem, no power, genius. I rolled my eyes and went through the cabinets. I made mocha brownies at one point that called for instant coffee. The jar was still there. I measured the granules and turned on the faucet.

“Instant coffee and tap water, the breakfast of Derecho champions,” I chuckled to myself. But the inevitable caffeine headache was avoided that morning. Appreciate the little things, right?

I’m really trying to appreciate 2020 and what it’s showing me. As I try to make sense of it and make plans to counteract it, I know I need to learn from it and move on.

Here are 10 things 2020 has taught me thus far: