Handling the Unexpected

Happy Christmas, all.

We’re sticking close to the farm today, where it has gotten up to an unexpectedly balmy 70 degrees during the afternoon. Sunny skies, too, for much of the day early on, although clouds have drifted in over the last couple of hours in advance of some more rain. Or so the forecasters are saying.

Speaking of things getting cloudy, the last few days have included some unforeseen “crises” that might’ve made the holiday season even more stressful than it usually is. Started on Sunday with a horse-related emergency, something I was referencing earlier in the week when talking about being pulled away from that Panthers-Giants game. Everyone is fine, but for a short while we were worried it might not be.

Then on Tuesday night we discovered a possible issue regarding our electricity for the house and barn, which when we got an electrician out here Wednesday morning we learned was potentially very serious (and dangerous). I’ll forgo a tedious rehearsal of the details, but suffice to say that, too, could have been a lot worse had we not gotten things looked at and remedied when we did.

Yesterday then provided us with another bit of unanticipated misfortune -- a flat tire coming back from a visit with family. Things were made even more complicated due to the lack of an available spare (and the fact that it was Christmas Eve), but we were able to work things out well enough and got back home to wake up here and spend the day with our four-legged friends.

Added all together, all of that kind of put us in a weird frame of mind here this Christmas day, feeling both a little put upon after the sequence of misfortune but glad as well that we avoided even worse luck.

Before all that happened, we had a fun surprise visit from the poker pro Alec Torelli and his wife, Ambra, who ended up swinging by a week ago while in the middle of their own adventures in travel that involving unplanned-for detour. They ended up spending a few hours with us on the farm last Friday, with Ambra getting a first-ever horse riding lesson while they were here. Was a ton of fun from which we all got to take a away a neat memory.

Earlier this week Alec shared a new “Hand of the Day” video on PokerNews involving a hand someone had sent to him. In the hand the player had gotten himself into a tricky spot having to play a big pot out of position. A not-so-great decision early in the hand coupled with a little bit of misfortune afterwards put the player in an awkward position. While discussing the hand, Alec pointed out how even after we find ourselves in unfavorable circumstances we still have to try to make good decisions going forward (and not worry too much -- or really at all -- about how we got there).

It’s good advice, I think -- to make the best of things regardless of the luck you’ve encountered or the mistakes you might have made. Play each hand well, and enjoy yourself, too, if you can.

Hanging out with Sammy and Maggie (pictured at left) and Shakan (up above) makes it easier to remember that stuff. They’re all three pretty laid back, for the most part.

They don’t seem to mind this unexpected weather too much, either.