A Tiny Lamp Lights the Way in a Huge Storm

What some people do when they're alone

It has been a wild couple of days, weatherwise and otherwise. To top off my living room decor, I ordered a lamp from Wayfair. When it arrived yesterday, I was surprised by how tiny it is. I expected a LAMP. But it’s cute and cordless and does the job, perfect for those early mornings when I’m sipping my juice and adjusting to being awake while it’s still dark. It will also be useful in a power failure. It charges with a USB cord like a mobile phone.

I spent much of yesterday half-blind and unable to see the computer screen after I had my pupils dilated at the ophthalmologist’s office. No worries. I need a slightly stronger prescription, but everything looks healthy, said the still handsome-after-all-these-years Dr. John Haines.

This morning was absorbed by playing piano and singing at a healing Mass at church, delivering books to Books and More in Yachats, lunch at Off the Hook, and buying groceries at Fred Meyer.

What does all this have to do with being alone? I should not have driven home with my dilated pupils in the wind and rain after my appointment. Shame on me for not asking for a ride. One of these days, my “I can do it” attitude is going to get me in trouble.

Also, when you have drunk two giant glasses of iced tea for lunch and find yourself in the checkout line at Freddie’s behind a guy buying $300 worth of junk food (it filled two carts!), it would be mighty handy to have a partner who could hold your place while you run to the ladies’ room. Making it worse, this guy, dressed in an odd layering of rags, smiled and said, “You’re not in a hurry, are you?”

Uh, well . . .

Yesterday’s storm was a real thrasher. Dark all day, branches down, benches toppled, thundering waves. Today is the first dry, sunny day on the Oregon coast since Halloween, but clouds are already gathering for another shower.

Lest you think I’ve got life nailed, I found myself fairly nonfunctional yesterday, but what I saw out the window woke my muse. The poem below is what emerged. I talked to the neighbor later. Turns out he burns the pinecones in his wood stove. Now I’m picking them up, too.

For a photo of today’s waves in Yachats, scroll to the end of this post.

Let’s talk:

Have you found yourself in a situation where it really would have helped to have someone else along? It doesn’t have to be a 911 situation. It can be any silly little thing where you needed a buddy. Let’s make a list.

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Some Might Ask Why

Rain slams the windows,
wind topples the deck chairs,
and my ancient neighbor
is gathering tiny pinecones

as if they don’t belong,
as if more won’t fall,
as if it’s not raining
on his side of the street.

Huddled by the fireplace,
I hope for a power failure
to give me a good excuse
for getting nothing done.

It started early, my malaise.
Late on my credit card bill,
Nothing good for breakfast,
why-bother flu coming on.

My in-box overflowing,
I work online jigsaw puzzles,
watch Kevin Bacon dance,
forget to wash my hair.

My timecard would say zero,
but no boss is keeping track.
No one knows I’ve caught the bug.
I’m not expecting chicken soup.

Wobbling on achy joints,
stiff from sitting too long,
about to become enslaved
to the you’re-too-old brigade,

I watch the grumpy old man
pick pine cones off the lawn.
Shamed, I groan and start again
on my side of the street.

—Sue Fagalde Lick, Nov. 7, 2025

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How did I end up alone? I didn’t have any kids. After my husband and I retired to the Oregon coast, far from family, he died of Alzheimer’s disease. You can read our story in my memoir, No Way Out of This: Loving a Partner with Alzheimer’s, available at your favorite bookseller. Visit https://www.suelick.com for information on all of my books.