A day from ...?

Boy! Today was just one of those days ... it started with a trip to the dentist – one of the things I hate.

When I got home, I found I had left the soup on high “the fire alarm was wailing, the dog was howling, and the house was filled with smoke. As soon as I stepped in the house, I started to choke on the fumes, the phone started ringing (the alarm company calling) and I could not remember my password to shut off the alarm. In the confusion, the dog took off. Oh, well, he came back.

Then as I was rushing around opening windows and getting the burning pot outside, the Fire Marshall arrived to check on things.

Then, after the house aired out, we decided to go for a canoe on the river “after all, the river was calm like a mirror and the sky was as clear as could be. When we were making a turn around the island, it started to rain hard, and the wind whipped up “turns out a tornado touched down near us. Syl and I got hit by a gale-force wind gust, capsizing us into the river. We managed to drag ourselves and the canoe to a nearby island and were safe. But we lost the camera, drowned the cell phone and are missing a paddle.

Then when we finally got back to our island, we were greeted by concerned neighbours who had seen our tumbling into the rough current of the river. Once assured we were okay, they informed us that the winds had also crashed a huge tree onto the roof of our house.

It had also toppled another huge tree across the power lines and so our island was without power for hours – not pleasant when you are soaking wet with mucky river water.

For a few moments, I thought this must be a day from Hell. But then I got to thinking.

The house did not catch on fire from the burning soup. The dog did not succumb to the fumes. The fire trucks did not show up for a false alarm which would have resulted in a serious ticket. While we lost the camera and cell phone, neither of us was hurt, let alone we did not drown. The tree that fell on the house didn’t break windows or punch a hole in the roof. The power company eventually restored the power and in the failing light the neighbours gathered together in the street sharing stories of the experience and a few glasses of wine. The dog came home happy to see us and, hey, even the dentist was gentle.

And Sylviane and I enjoyed many laughs about the day – and many reflections on how fortunate we were.

A day from Hell? Nope, a day in which we were looked after by someone or something. And whoever or whatever it was that was looking after u “boy, they sure did a good job.

As my dear friend Ernie might say – a day for gratitude.

It really is a matter of perspective, isn’t it? We choose how to see things, and live from there.

Thom