Road Trip: Day Nine..."Chill"
While traveling in a camper, one must stay on top of housekeeping tasks or things soon spiral out of control. Living in a small space requires planning and organization…both monumental tasks for this poor Gemini mind of mine. I would just as soon drop everything and chase butterflies, but the pile of dishes in the sink and the basket of laundry in the corner were calling my name yesterday. Actually, I don’t really mind a day of puttering around the “house”. It gives me ample time to visit, contemplate, plan, and write. There are some things I’ve wanted to research online the last week or so and this little bit of down time allowed me to do that.
This fall, Dominion Gas will begin construction on a compressor station about a mile or so beyond the back property line of the farm. I’ve driven past them and they are noisy beasts but I’ve never really known how they work or what they are used for. A week or two ago, I posted a video here of a jack pump on a gas well head. These pumps feed gas in small lines to a larger compressor station that presses the gas, squeezing out the air molecules, and allowing the gas to flow through larger lines. Without the compressor, pipelines would have to be huge in order to accommodate the volume of gas that needs to flow through them. The problems lie in some of the safety issues involved in mechanically compressing highly volatile natural gas. Compressor station and large gas line explosions are not unheard of. There was a large gas line explosion on I-77 a couple of years ago and it literally melted the highway and damaged an overpass. There are some issues with health effects of these compressor stations and I’ll be doing more research on that.
There are a lot of things that can go wrong with something like a compressor station. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with every scenario we face in life. After I do due diligence and I’m satisfied with the answers to the questions I have about this new construction so close to my family farm, I’ll be able to let that go and deal with the next thing. This was not always the case with me. I spent far too much of my life walking a tightrope of fear. Fear of the unknown…the what-ifs…kept me paralyzed a lot of the time. I have elected to opt out of so many things that could very easily have brought me much joy and certainly could have broadened my horizons simply because I was afraid of what could go wrong. I think there are many of us who do that. I think being a widow could have certainly exacerbated my fears. As a matter of fact…it did for much of the first year, year and a half. I still have to make a conscious effort to make the choice to be excited about what can go right.
I used to be so pessimistic. I think a lot of my fear was driven by my need to be in control at all times. If I always exercised caution, we would all be safe. If I could keep myself and those I love from doing anything vaguely dangerous, I wouldn’t have to feel the pain of loss or injury. Then Mr. Virgo died. And I realized I had no control. Not even a semblance of control. I can’t keep bad things from happening to those I love or to myself for that matter. All I can do is pray for safety and look for the ways every situation might be used for joy and for the glory of God. Walking a path of love and joy and hope is far more fulfilling than looking for every way in which things can go wrong.
And, things WILL go wrong. It is, after all, the nature of things. It’s how we react when things go wrong that makes a difference in the peace we can feel in this life. Let go. Let God do His thing. Exercise caution…let go of fear. A fine line. A tightrope. But one well worth practicing. ❤️
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Psalm 56:3-4 NIV