The Loft is nearly finished. Boy, are you tired of hearing about the renovations in the loft yet? (I am.)
Over the past week as I've been helping to do some work on it (painting, electrical work — I'm a gal with lots of unexpected know-how) I've been listening to the audio book The Martian by Andy Weir. Yes, the same book that was turned into a movie staring Matt Damon. The audio book is read by everyone's favourite Star Trek star, Wil Wheaton, so that was a treat.
No, this blog post is not a review of the book, the movie, or the reading by Wil.
As I was working away I was listening. The book contains a lot of problem-solving. Something needs to get done, or be fixed, or be resolved, and there's a big to-do list to accomplish each goal. I noticed that while I was listening, I was also planning, making lists, ticking things off the list. I felt very in-sync with the book. I mean, I'm not stranded on a planet alone growing poop potatoes, but you get the idea. It's really well written — I've laughed out loud, and had tears streaming down my cheeks as a ride the waves of misadventure, all the while plodding along through our own series of mis-steps, none nearly as catastrophic as any of his. (We're out of paint and need to go back to the paint store AGAIN!)
Yesterday, while I was making bread, I had the audio book on. It was getting close to the end, and I realised I didn't know if Mark Watney (Matt Damon's character) was going to live or die. I quickly turned it off and had a small panic.
Was I going to make it to Saturday morning? Was everything going to be finished in time? Would we be mopping the floor and putting up curtains, hanging the last lights at 9:28 Saturday morning, me having no class ready to teach, winging it for my first class here in The Loft? (Yes, these are the things of my nightmares these days.)
Of course not. My dad rang the doorbell. He had arrived to work on the doors. I texted my mom — she's hemming the curtains and they're nearly finished. My husband walked down the stairs covered from head to toe in plaster dust, having just finished the last sand of the wall he was working on.
I am not alone.
Mark Watney wasn't alone either. Although he was alone on Mars, he had a team on Earth and the rest of his mission crew working on how to save him, too. It's how we survive in this world — with some help from our friends. We can do pretty much anything because we are not alone.
And I'll make it, too. Saturday morning is not far off, but it will all come together. I will survive.
​And I haven't even had to eat poop potatoes.
