Spots of Sadness

This has been a week of spots of sadness:  not the sadness that swamps my little boat, but a dark spot that I can sail out of, but it's still odd to find so many of them in a week.  Let me list them:

--On Sunday, we discovered that the relatively new AC in the cottage isn't working.  It's still under warranty.  But it's frustrating, because I thought we had that task finished.  I thought I could work on getting the cottage back into livable shape so that the VBS camp counselors could stay there the last week of June.  I still think that can happen.

--I'm sad because although the cottage was never glamorous, it had a certain rustic charm.  And now it has no charm.

--I heard from the once-friend who was the first to live in the newly recreated cottage.  When she left, I had hopes that she might find happiness.  It does not sound like that has happened.

--I feel sadness because there has been so much loss.  Dealing with the loss (like calling contractors, writing to the insurance to appeal the denial of claims, calling the AC company, cleaning the cottage) makes me feel the sadness of the loss and the enormity of the recovery tasks ahead.

--My high school Facebook group has been posting pictures--can it really have been 35 years since graduation?  I feel sadness at the losses there too, particularly the death of my best friend.

But let me remember that in the midst of this sadness, there are still lots of times of quiet joy:  the front porch, the pool, the beach.  Let me go for a walk and count my blessings.