Jack’s Walk


I make my own sunshine. ©voyager, all rights reserved

“Wake up. You have to get up now,” I heard my husband call out sharply from the hallway.

“Why,” I call back, already getting up. Mr. doesn’t use that tone often, so I know there’s a problem.

“There’s been an accident out front.”

Oh. Just that. Again. We live near a high school and at certain times of day a few cars speed through the corner near our house. I looked at the clock. Yup, 8:15, the busiest time of day.

I was having trouble shaking myself awake as I grabbed my robe and stiffly hurried to the door hoping no-one was hurt. Mr. was already at the door and when we looked out, the first thing we saw was a shiny black car resting on the sidewalk about a foot from our front lawn and very near the spot that Jack likes to sit and greet the kids who walk to school. The front end was bent and twisted and looked beyond repair. In the other direction, we saw another shiny black car with its passenger door smashed in, and between the vehicles, there was a field of debris littering the road and two men standing talking under a single blue striped golf umbrella. Great – no-one hurt. I made my way to the kitchen, put on the coffee and was heading to the bathroom when I heard a knock on my door. Standing there was a strapping, young fireman wearing all his gear who smiled at me pleasantly and told me that the car would be removed soon and not to worry. Mam. He called me mam. I thanked him and smiled back, wishing him a good day. When I finally made it to the bathroom and looked in the mirror, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. One side of my hair was wild and sticking out at all angles and the other side was plastered to my head. My fluffy pink bathrobe was sporting a big stain of some sort, and my face was full of pillow wrinkles. Best of all, I wasn’t wearing my dentures and suddenly realized that I’d given the guy a great big, Granny Clampett, toothless grin.

And how was your morning?

Comments

  1. Ice Swimmer says

    It’s good that nobody got hurt.

    Wednesday morning: I woke up 1 pm, having forgotten to set my phone to wake me up (luckily no lectures or meetings on that day), I then proceeded to cook combined lunch and breakfast and do an assignment which had DL a few minutes to midnight.

    Thursday morning: Woke up at 9 am, this time I had remembered to set my phone to wake me up. Made tea, ate a cheese and vegiar sandwich and went to the lecture I’m currently attending. Definitely a better morning today, partly because I got to go to a sauna (no swimming this time, that particular sauna isn’t on the seashore, but it’s open later than other saunas) after getting the assignment done yesterday.

  2. says

    The photo is lovely, the story, I’m glad nobody got hurt. You seem to be in for near misses right now, so please be extra careful.
    The one thing I fear the most are other drivers. And hey, we’re discussing a general speed limit.
    Again.
    I swear what the US’s Second Amendment is Germany’s no speed limit: it kills and most people really want to see sensible regulation but a loud minority makes sure nothing happens.

  3. Ice Swimmer says

    In the photo, it’s very Canadian sunshine, right? And it’s lovely indeed.

    Giliell @ 2

    Is it right that German speed limits are fairly high even when they are there? I mean, Wikipedia tells that the standard limit for rural roads is 100 km/h (the general speed limit in Finland has been 80 km/h since 1970s, but higher (100 or 120 km/h) and lower posted limits are possible) and 50 km/h for urban (the same as in Finland, but for example in Helsinki, it’s mostly 30 km/h or 40 km/h).

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