Winter. It can be beautiful and peaceful.  I love watching snowflakes fall and flutter down like a feather on the fields.

Winter can also be brutal. Blowing, chill-you-to-the-bone wind and snow can make life really tough. Add on a layer of heavy ice and we’ve got problems.

A few weeks ago, weather experts alerted the state to a big winter storm. To prepare, we trimmed trees so if they got heavy with ice, the damage would be minimal.  We prepared our generators--made sure the gas was clean and oil changed. We chopped lots of firewood and stocked our pantry with food items that could be minimally cooked, just in case we lost electricity.

We were ready. We checked all the boxes, and prepared for the worst.

Then the worst happened.

My husband came into the living room and said, “We have a problem.”

Horrible thoughts began running through my head. Did we forget to fuel up something? The generator has blown up? A limb has fallen onto one of the vehicles? One of the kids has hurt themselves badly? Something is on fire?!!

Then he broke the news.

“We only have one roll of toilet paper!”

It was starting to ice out already so we were stuck. I only hoped we could survive the storm with our one roll of toilet paper.

This life lesson reminded me that no matter how much we prepare for any storm that heads our way, we can never be completely ready.

It was just toilet paper (and turned out to be quite funny), but with all our preparation we missed something.

It also made me realize that even through a storm, there can be bright spots.

The ice came. We survived on one our one roll of toilet paper and enjoyed the storm.

A gentle breeze rubbed the tree limbs together and made it sound like glass chimes. We spent time as a family huddled in the living room with a warm fire and board games.

I soaked in the quiet time and realized spring will be here soon and our lives will kick in to overdrive.