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 Sat Apr 30, 2005 « recent »
* Inkygirl *
Filk FAQ
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 Back from the cottage; ice-out officially happened on Thursday. On the way home this afternoon, I was snoozing in the back seat of our car while Jeff and JBR (his dad) chatted in the front. I was woken by a yell. Startled, I opened my eyes and looked out the front window... ...and saw the car directly in front of us FLYING. JBR was shouting, "Back off...BACK OFF!" and everything was happening very fast, but I clearly remember one thought flashing through my mind at that moment: Is this it? The experience was surreal; in a split second, my mind raced ahead to envision what would surely happen next...the flying car would land badly, start rolling, we would crash into it. What actually happened next: Dirt spraying off its tires, the car landed on the other side of the median in the gutter. After checking behind him for oncoming cars, Jeff quickly pulled off onto the opposite shoulder and called 911 while JBR ran across the road to see if the other driver needed help. By chance, an off-duty paramedic also happened to be driving by, stopped to offer help.  I was impressed by how calm Jeff sounded as he answered the rapid-fire questions from the 911 operator; he had never had to call 911 before. Across the road, the driver of the other car was slowly getting out of his car, looking dazed but (thankfully) not seriously hurt. The ambulance arrived first, then a fire engine, then the police. Jeff and JBR filled out eyewitness forms as well as being interviewed by the police about what happened. Apparently a van towing a large trailer in front of us struck a small car while changing lanes. The latter lost control, drove up the median railing (that's when I woke up) and landed in the gutter on the other side. We were all *very* lucky. If the driver of the car had hit the median at another angle, his car would likely have rolled...either into oncoming traffic or into our car. If the driver of the van towing the trailer had hit his brakes in a panic after the collision, he could have jackknifed and hit other cars, including ours. If the car had rolled further into the lane of oncoming traffic instead of the gutter on the other side of the median, he would have struck a car head-on. And if Jeff hadn't left enough room between us and the next car or if he had panicked, things could have gone very badly. But they didn't. It's one of the events that make me appreciate even more what I have, to be passionate in life instead of passive, and to not want to waste a single minute angsting about the little stuff.
But apart from the trip home, it was another good visit to the cottage. My camera batteries didn't handle the cold that well this year and died quickly, but you can see the handful of photos I did take here. See Jeff's Ice-out Page tomorrow for details. We saw several moose and otters during our brief stay at the cottage; the latter were playing on a piece of lingering ice on shore. Much colder this visit than usual, and I was glad I had brought extra fleece layers, mitts, scarf and a winter hat. It was even SNOWING when we paddled away from the cottage this morning. Brrrrrr! Looking forward to a long soak in a hot bath tonight. Hope you're all having a good weekend.
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