My pride? Feeling rather smug that I wasn't the car pulled over to the side of the road in need of roadside service next to a pile of boulders that our hills spit up in the latest downpour. (Decades ago I had run over a boulder on the freeway and broke my axel which I refer to by my insurance company's label: an act of God.)
A little further up the road I see the posted sign that warns WATCH FOR FALLING ROCK. (What's the deal with mountains and hills throwing boulders onto the road as a result of a little rain? sheesh!
)
Veering smartly, and again a tad smugly, to the left to avoid two pesky boulders on the right, I deftly run over a large boulder that looms suddenly in the dark!
The fall? A flat tire, in the middle of no where (I live in the rural desert), in the dark, in the middle of a fierce rainstorm with no cell phone! I had to pull my car over to the shoulder which sunk four inches into the mud as did I. I was splashed by every puddle as passersby sped past me making sure they hit the puddle at exactly the correct place to shower me the best. I was drenched from the knee down where my red riding hood rain jacket stopped.
But did I let this fall get me down?? Heck no! (I really didn't cry....just a few sniffles.) I told the story exaggeratedly with many adjectives (not explectives) to my class of third graders. It became a lesson in writing!
Every moment of life is a learning opportunity. The trick is to find it.
Two hundred dollars later I cringe at what today's learning opportunity will be - its pouring outside and I awoke at 2:30 a.m. without an ounce of pride in me - then again, its still early!
