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I'm Not My Ancestors...

 


Well actually I could've fit right in with the Viking side. My now deceased husband every once in a while used to call me "Cavewoman". Affectionately, of course. I'm a barebones, do-it-yourself kind of gal.

As our air-conditioner began to go on the fritz for a second time during this drought driven hot humid summer yesterday. I worried for one of our older in home bunnies. 

Lop-eared house bunnies can handle the cold okay, yet not so much the heat. So we've been advised over the years. 

Our indoor semi-wild bunny mix would be okay to a point. Our Guinea Pig would be just fine with the heat. With Guinea Pigs it's the cold we would be concerned with.

Too, I slightly considered paperwork our youngest may have to do in perhaps possibly hottest room in the house. Then I sighed with relief that she had two practices and one 90 minute meeting outside our home for the day. Her day would be filled with three activities. Her older sister working an opening and a closing shift at a coffee shop, would be out most of the day. A long day for both would be then having a near 10pm dinnertime. 

I figured to start dinner at near half past four. Just in case they could have dinner by quarter past five. It was a thought into action after I'd be the driver to the college meeting for our youngest to western New Jersey at about noon. It would be inbetween her two practices.  

Previously, my thoughts for the day nearly evaporated with a five second moment of panic. As I stood next to a small puddle of water near our air conditioning and heating unit. 

Then I reflected back. I'd realized this had never happened in the near quarter century we'd had our home. Too, it never happened since we've had pets in the past decade. I reminded myself verbally, "A new one indeed." And not to make any assumptions. 

As well. I reminded myself not to deflate the energy I needed for the day's training, writing, creativity, and family chores. 

You can do that you know. Drain yourself from panic. I learned that from my training and competitions in over 500 running/racing events, 106 grappling matches and my 19 fights. Yes, all adrenaline driven. 

Team sports I never felt much drain from the rush. Those three aforementioned individual events mentioned, I indeed did.

I made the call to our air-conditioning vendor. They were down a couple of men. The man on the phone knew me. I quickly calculated how much heat would be on each floor at each time of the day. Too, as to when the heat would accelerate outside to its highest and when it would effect the floor the pets were on. Yes, I calculated. I actually have done these test runs in our home recently to figure that out in order to save money.

As I ran, cleaned, wrote, edited, then drove our youngest to her college meeting, I nearly forgot any worries I'd had for our oldest bunny and the air-conditioning issue. As I realized this, driving our youngest back home. It came to mind as she said, "I wouldn't worry about Nibbles Mom. I think she can handle some heat." I replied, "Yeah, you might be correct. I just thought back about when I was growing up, I always had my bedroom in the hottest part of our homes as a kid. We didn't have air-conditioning and not always a basement either. I think we'll be in luck tonight with cool breezes coming in. So, Nibbles is safe."

This morning as I reflected to my childhood whilst reading some of the 'chest-pounding pseudo-tough guy and gals' online remarks/posts. Their comments to project who they think they are. Or how tough that they've had it. I realized that the generation of our children today are no less tougher than all the other generations before them. I can say, the toughness of our general younger generation population is no less and no more tougher than past generations of Americans.  

I will reason this with what and how crisis' have occurred many moons ago versus today's crisis'. The stress to each generation remains equal. Different yes, but equal. That is something we need to remind ourselves when we feel downtrodden, or envious of others, or other's generations. ---Jody-Lynn Reicher 


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