I was honestly struggling with what to write this week. Inspiration was in short supply and I don’t enjoy venting in these entries unless it serves some kind of purpose. Overall, things are going well right now (knock on wood) and I considered a ‘look back and appreciate’ post, but that seemed boring.

I do, however, have several friends that are in transitional places. They’re okay, globally speaking they’re great, but they’re uncomfortable temporarily. The inspiration congealed and here we have it. Things you don’t appreciate until you don’t have them, in no particular order.

Lawn chairs are great. But if you’ve ever had a time when they’re your only furniture, you know what I mean.

Your Couch. Depending on the circumstances of your last move, or in our case, your last disaster, it may have been awhile since you’ve had to use a box of books, a lawn chair, or even just the floor, as your chill spot. A couch, even a hand-me-down or thrift store couch, is such a staple that many of us have never had to live without one for extended periods of time. Unless you live in a very small space.

Your Kitchen Untensiles. If you’ve ever opened a bottle of wine with a screwdriver and then used the same screwdriver to occasionally push the cork out of the way so you could continue drinking out of the bottle in your empty-ass place, then you know what I’m talking about. How about trying to open a can of soup with the claw end of a hammer? (Yeah, I know, I’ve actually never been without a screwdriver and hammer. #blessed) Have you ever moved (or had your apartment burn down right after a move) and gone shopping for food like you would normally, only to get home and realize that you have no earthly way of even cooking noodles?

Being Injury Free. I’ve been fortunate enough over the past five years or so to have recovered completely from a few accidents and injuries. Of course I absolutely hated them and cursed my luck when I was going through them, but since I’ve been able to recover, I’ve appreciated what I’m still able to do even more that I was before. I’ve actually been running and walking longer on my ‘easy days’ than the workouts instruct because I’m just so happy to get out there. I wake up at 5am thrilled that I’m still able to use my body. And I’m glad that I have that chance.

Electricity. For a few hours, or even a few days, being without power can be a kind of fun, even romantic, adventure, but the longer it drags on, the more it seems like you’re living in the 1800s and everyone else is not. This is worse if you’re in an extremely cold or extremely hot time of year. As soon as Dean and I moved into our new house, a tornado hit our side of Nashville (I mean, of course) and we were elated at first that we only had a power outage. After five days, with a weekend in the 30s looming, we were less thrilled. Candle light is cool, to an extent. When your bathroom is the darkest place in the house, and you can’t charge any of your devices, it gets old fast.

A working fridge. Ever had to decide what to cook real fast? And… bear in mind, if there are leftovers… they better keep warm. When to hedge your bets and try and leave it in there. When you decide you’re about to open the fridge and let all that cool air out, wait a moment, think, do you need anything else from in there? Do you know it’s exact location? Can you grab it quickly? Go! Now!

Shoes. This one came from my mom, who has very small feet and has a difficult time getting a good fit. When her shoes wear out, she mourns them. But I’ve also run out of my apartment when it was on fire wearing only black cowboy boots because those were the easiest things to throw on at the time. And then I lived in them. For weeks. I’m a person who prefers barefoot whenever possible, but… I gotta tell ya, there’s nothing like having your choice of shoe to fit the activity that you’re about to embark on.

Water. I know, you’re probably like, what, are we going to do food and air next? But have you ever been out and about and been dying of thirst and there’s no water? Maybe there’s other things. Maybe there’s coffee. Maybe there’s booze. But there’s no. water. Water seems so boring most of the time. Until you don’t have it. What about if your water gets cut off? No toilet suddenly. Nothing to cook with. Nothing to shower with. How are you going to make sure the pets don’t die of dehydration? Ya gonna pour some La Croix in their little water bowls? (Actually, I’ve thought about this, and if you have some hydrogen peroxide, just expose it to sunlight and it will become water and you can buy your pet some extra time. Shut up, I’m a survivor.)

People who speak your language. Have you ever been somewhere alone where you don’t speak the language well? Yeah, maybe you can order dinner and ask where the bathroom is, but you aren’t capable of actual discourse. You can’t tell a joke. No one knows if you’re funny or smart because you just can’t convey what you’re thinking in their language. I spent a couple of days in Paris like this. When I first went, I was fighting, and I knew the fighting language, and I also had my U.S. team and we could hang out with the Brits and the Canadians and have some fun. After that, I met friends from University in England and we hung out for a bit. We all spoke crappy French, but we got by, and we had a good time. Then I had exactly a day and a half by myself. I thought it would be great. I’d know my way around, I’d go hang out at some spots I liked, enjoy my last day in the hotel, et cetera. It was actually the most awkward day. If I didn’t say something right, I had no one else with me to try another way. I had no one to tell jokes or stories to. When I second guessed myself (do they really not tip here?) I had no one to bounce it off of. It gives you a little bit of empathy for people who move somewhere and try and learn the language once they get there. Once, I was at a hostel, and trying my best to speak French and check in. Thank god I had a French friend with me. She was standing to the side, letting me try, smiling encouragement. Then something went wrong. I had somehow booked two rooms. He was trying to get me to pay for both even though one was canceled. I had the papers with the cancellation in my hand. He was still going to make me pay. My friend stepped in. If she had not been there, I think I would have had to buy two rooms.

Me on my hotel balcony in Paris with a chocolate bar.

Good Health. These are two of my favorite quotes by me. I know, it’s self-appreciation and that’s frowned upon, but like, they’re good, so here: 1. One never truly appreciates the absence of pain. 2. The problem with getting old is that you’ve been young your whole life. If you’ve ever been through a long, drawn out illness, or if you’ve ever had a body part injured (been hit by a truck, perhaps?) and been told that it would never be the same, then you get this. We are not our bodies. We are our ‘souls’ for lack of any different term. You are your ‘essence.’ You have a body. But your self still has to live inside of it. And when it can take you from place to place like it used to, without causing you hassle and pain, there is a bit of sadness and mourning that little vehicle that used to be. It’s usually mixed in with anger and frustration, but deep down, I think it’s all mourning what will come to pass eventually. No matter how good care we take care of our little ‘cars’ they will wear out. And eventually, we will have to leave them.

Letters. Real ones. Again, this one is from my mom, but as someone who loved writing letters as a kid, and even in college to those few friends who would write them back. I agree with her. I wrote my grandma letters with photos in them of what we were doing every few months. When she died, it left a hole I didn’t realize that I would have. Everyone else who cared could pretty much catch up with me online. I had no one else on which to use the stationary that I had accumulated so quickly in my youth and then hoarded as if it weren’t going out of style. There are a few people that I can write letter-style emails to, but not very many. I can count them on two fingers. And there is nothing like seeing that big block of text, hand written is best of course, but even typed. Like you’re getting to read the next installment of a book about one of your favorite characters, but the twist is that they also might be interested in what’s going on with you, and you can write your own chapter back.

My experience is by no means all inclusive. I’d love it if people actually responded to this one. Comments, emails, even letters if you’d be so bold. What are things that you missed when they were gone?

Things You Don’t Appreciate Until They’re Gone