Do Something ‘Normal’

 

By G. E. Shuman

 

          In the old 1977 movie ‘Oh God’ the main character, the late comedian George Burns, played the part of God. This, to me, was always a stretch. Although I remember enjoying that movie way back then, I also remember hearing a bit about that person’s personal life, and placing him in the role of God seemed odd, to say the least.

          I mention Mr. Burns only because of one line in that movie that I have always remembered. At one point in the film ‘God’ met another character who was shaken tremendously by the encounter. (Who wouldn’t be?)  The Burns line was that the man should shave. “When you don’t feel normal, sometimes doing something normal helps you feel normal.”  It was a simple thought but seemed somehow true.

          Lorna and I just spent a weekend in Maine. Our reason for going was not to get away from Vermont, in the situation it’s in; our short visit there was to attend a memorial service for my very favorite aunt, Jean. We then spent a gorgeous day in the Camden/Rockland area of that state’s beautiful coast.

          Upon our arrival back in Central Vermont I began to feel a bit depressed. I probably had little good reason for this. Our family is all safe and well and none of us suffered loss due to the flood, (which happened to occur on my birthday, July 10th.) For this I am truly thankful. Regardless, I felt somewhat down as we traveled into East Barre and Barre, over still unrepaired roads, and past piles of destroyed belongings. The mud slides were still there. Why wouldn’t they be? All of this made me feel guilty at enjoying our very scenic time on the New England coast.

          I realized on that arrival back here that the efforts at normalizing, at getting our area back to some semblance of how it was ‘before’, will be continuing for some time into the future. I, admittedly, shamefully wished that I could just turn around and go back to the sailboats and safe harbors of the place we had just visited. Still, although in some turmoil, the great state of Vermont is our home, and has been for most of our married life together.

          I began this column with the quote from that old, outdated movie for a reason. The idea of getting things back to the way they were just wouldn’t leave me, and I felt stressed by it all. So, the next day I did something ‘normal’, to help myself feel more normal. I love making soups and stews, so I made some soup. In fact, I made a huge pot of a beef barley type of soup from a recipe I have had for years. I think that doing so helped me a lot.

          So, if you’re feeling a bit down or depressed because of the present state of our state and your place in it, my suggestion would be to just try doing something ‘normal’. It won’t change your situation, which I pray is improving, but it may change your attitude. Your thing might be to work in your garden, or paint your fence, or read a book, or bake a cake. Mine was to make soup, and the soup was delicious.