The Stuff That Happens
Stuff happens. And while I shake my head some days over the stuff that happens to me, I know I am not alone with these experiences. Stuff happens to everyone...interesting, astounding, impactful stuff. The stuff that happens, big or small, does become woven into our lives for better and for worse and it shapes who we are and how we respond to things. It shapes our fears and it shapes our wonderments. Today I remain befuddled and dumbstruck at the high profile that moose have gained in my life. I remember long long roadtrips with the family and everyone staring out the windows watching for a moose. "We are in moose country now", would go the chorus and we all would take up our positions...and we would rarely rarely ever see a moose. Not so much anymore. These days we hope to not see a moose as we travel the roads....or at least to see them far far away. This week we have had astoundingly hot hot weather out west. Each day the temperature rises to the mid-30's. This weather is tough on fur-bearing creatures so they typically retreat into the shade of the forest especially in mid-day. So as I travelled down our highway this week in the middle of the day with a beating hot sun, I was only casually scanning the ditches as I drove. I was not in my high alert dusk-status scan but I was paying attention to the landscape on either side of the road. You are smart to do that at all times out here. I was listening to the radio and humming along all the while fully cognizant of the transport truck rumbling along behind me. I would check the rear view mirror from time to time making sure we were all copacetic on the road. As I glanced up at the rear view mirror one more time I was quite alarmed to see a large moose standing on the road right behind my truck. I did not see him in the ditch. I did not see him coming out of the trees. And I did not see the parachute he must have used to appear so very suddenly out of the blue on the road behind me. I did see a rather alarmed truck driver jackknifing on the road to miss him. The moose took off in a flash with all of the racket and somehow miraculously the truck driver straightened his truck and carried on. It took him some time to get back up to speed just as it took some time for my rather pie-sized eyes to return to their normal shape. This stuff that happens makes me shake my head. If I had been two seconds later driving down the road that moose would have been in front of me. I do not know what lesson to take out of this yet except that moose can be everywhere and anywhere in any weather and that perhaps, just perhaps, I need an animal guard on the front of my truck. I am going to have to ponder this one some more. I do know that with all of my wildlife encounters while on foot on my trails, I have become much more comfortable in the woods oddly enough. I know they are out there. I know they are just as wary of me as I am of them. And I know that if we both back off very slowly, we are all OK. This helps me to walk the wood trails with a watchful eye and I see so much much more with that watchful eye. Plants that I never knew existed. Berries that can be harvested. Wonderful creatures all through the woods that make me marvel at nature time and time again because one never knows the stuff that can happen.
Just today I had more stuff happen during our tumultuous summer weather that reminded me of stuff that happened a few years ago. Today as I was on my way to pick up Aidan from the bus stop, I drove into a wild thunderstorm. The wind was gusting and bolts of lightening were striking the ground all around the car. A few years ago when I worked at the museum in Bowmanville, I was working late at night down in the archives in the basement doing research most likely on Camp 30. I know this because that was usually what I was doing when I was there on my own late at night in the bowels of the archives. My cell phone suddenly rang and it was John on the line wondering if it might perhaps be wise of me to make my way home. I did not understand the issue until he explained that there was quite a storm going on with tornado warnings etc. This did get me moving with concerns that the power might go out before I was able to set the security alarm for the night...which would mean I would have to stay there until the power came back on. I quickly locked down the museum for the night and then hot footed it to the car while the night sky lit up and banged and boomed all around me. As I headed out into the country on the backroads to our farm, the lightening strikes became closer and more frequent. I could tell I was in the centre of it all as the thunder never stopped and multiple bolts of lightening peeled out of the sky. One hit a tree quite close to me and then another hit I know not what...maybe the car or maybe just really really close to the car. All I know is that there was a bright white light and then suddenly the lights on the car both inside and outside no longer worked. Nor did the windshield wipers. They no longer had any screws. In fact, the one on the drivers side was flopping out the side of the car like a bicyclist signalling to turn left. I stopped. I clung to the superstition that lightening never strikes the same place twice. I sat on the side of the road for some time contemplating my options. I tried calling my husband back to comtemplate options with him but he was merrily occupying our phone line chatting with family. I thought to myself, hmmm I am on a backroad. I rarely meet cars on this road and besides who would be out driving in this crazy storm besides me. Yes I have no lights and yes it is pouring rain and all my flopping windshield wiper wants to do is signal left but if I just creep along real slow and squint through the windshield really hard, I will get home eventually. Besides the lightening is lighting up the road really well. So I crept along and crept along and crept along until I finally pulled into our lane just as my husband was wrapping up his merry chat with family. I will note that we did get Call Waiting shortly after that...
So today with lightning hitting the ground all around me and the wind whipping the trees, I harkened back to the stuff that happens to me and I grit my teeth and I pointed the car into the storm and toward the bus station. After all, I know now that all that can happen is that the fuses can blow and the screws can fly off the windshield wipers so I might as well pitter patter and get at 'er.
Just today I had more stuff happen during our tumultuous summer weather that reminded me of stuff that happened a few years ago. Today as I was on my way to pick up Aidan from the bus stop, I drove into a wild thunderstorm. The wind was gusting and bolts of lightening were striking the ground all around the car. A few years ago when I worked at the museum in Bowmanville, I was working late at night down in the archives in the basement doing research most likely on Camp 30. I know this because that was usually what I was doing when I was there on my own late at night in the bowels of the archives. My cell phone suddenly rang and it was John on the line wondering if it might perhaps be wise of me to make my way home. I did not understand the issue until he explained that there was quite a storm going on with tornado warnings etc. This did get me moving with concerns that the power might go out before I was able to set the security alarm for the night...which would mean I would have to stay there until the power came back on. I quickly locked down the museum for the night and then hot footed it to the car while the night sky lit up and banged and boomed all around me. As I headed out into the country on the backroads to our farm, the lightening strikes became closer and more frequent. I could tell I was in the centre of it all as the thunder never stopped and multiple bolts of lightening peeled out of the sky. One hit a tree quite close to me and then another hit I know not what...maybe the car or maybe just really really close to the car. All I know is that there was a bright white light and then suddenly the lights on the car both inside and outside no longer worked. Nor did the windshield wipers. They no longer had any screws. In fact, the one on the drivers side was flopping out the side of the car like a bicyclist signalling to turn left. I stopped. I clung to the superstition that lightening never strikes the same place twice. I sat on the side of the road for some time contemplating my options. I tried calling my husband back to comtemplate options with him but he was merrily occupying our phone line chatting with family. I thought to myself, hmmm I am on a backroad. I rarely meet cars on this road and besides who would be out driving in this crazy storm besides me. Yes I have no lights and yes it is pouring rain and all my flopping windshield wiper wants to do is signal left but if I just creep along real slow and squint through the windshield really hard, I will get home eventually. Besides the lightening is lighting up the road really well. So I crept along and crept along and crept along until I finally pulled into our lane just as my husband was wrapping up his merry chat with family. I will note that we did get Call Waiting shortly after that...
So today with lightning hitting the ground all around me and the wind whipping the trees, I harkened back to the stuff that happens to me and I grit my teeth and I pointed the car into the storm and toward the bus station. After all, I know now that all that can happen is that the fuses can blow and the screws can fly off the windshield wipers so I might as well pitter patter and get at 'er.
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