Showing posts with label drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drama. Show all posts

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Shaken and stirred...

Last week I had a very unsettling experienced and it has stayed with me...
I am still trying to make sense of it.


It's something that has completely blind sided me
and left me quaking...


I was driving in my car...a Volvo estate, along a quiet street in Oak Bay.
 In case you are not familiar with these cars they are a very sturdy and heavy vehicle.
Anyway...


I was driving at 40 km, which is the new speed limit in our residential areas of town, 
when and I passed a cyclist.
The next thing I heard was shouting and swearing.
 When I looked back in my rear view mirror and saw the cyclist racing up to my window.

He was shouting and swearing saying I had clipped the mirror on his handle bar.
I said "oh my goodness I am So Sorry if I hit you I am SO very sorry."
"Are you OK?"
(I felt and heard nothing inside the car even though the windows were wide open)

He said "You are NOT SORRY"
"You are a terrible driver!"
"You were going too fast and passed me between two parked cars!"

I said "I am Sorry if I clipped your mirror."
"I didn't think I had passed that close to you."

By this time he was red in the face, and still yelling so I suggested that we call the police.
He was having none of this and yelled at me as he sped off...
"Respect the bike, Respect the bike!"

He then rode right through the stop sign and swerved onto the road ahead...
my heart was pounding and I was shaken.
I looked around for witnesses and saw no one.
I slowly drove away looking to see if he was in sight.
He was nowhere to be seen.


As soon as I got home I got on the phone to the police and made a full report...
I explained how shaken up I was by this event.
It was all the yelling and swearing that had me so upset.
I was not even sure that my car came in contact with his mirror but if it did I wanted them to know.
(I looked at the passenger side of my car and could find no evidence of any marks or scratches)

The report was filed and within the hour I received a call from the Police...


The previous week there was a report exactly like mine...
a driver reported a cyclist who intimated that his bike had been hit 
the driver had no idea or evidence to that effect
an apology was forthcoming ~ despite lots of shouting from the cyclist.
The driver had filed a report with the station and the cyclist had not.


The officer assured me that I was right to report the event and counselled me not to lose any sleep.


I consider myself a very careful driver and I look for cyclists.
I obey the speed limits and am very aware of pedestrians.
I drive defensively...

Now I am left uncertain, shaken and wondering...
and I'll never know for sure.


Sitting with a mug of Lapsang Souchong Tea
on my wee patio
by the back door

listening to the birds
watching the bees flit from flower to flower
trying to make sense of this event.

What have I learned from this?
I'll never know if my car clipped his mirror...
but one thing for sure is that I'll be on the look out for this same cyclist
in case it happens again.

Life is full of unanswered questions...


Thank goodness for the roses...
they are such a cheerful tonic and I hope in time this feeling of unease will fade.

Hope you enjoy your weekend.
Hostess
XO

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Yesterday...

Some days are better than others,
All we can do is put our best face forward and hope for the best...
yesterday was one of "those days."

Our four year old cat, Pepper is ill...
I spent a few hours at the hospital with her
and I left her there overnight for observation.
She has had X-Rays, tests and blood work...
it appears that something is amiss and so we wait...

If pets could talk and tell us what is wrong we'd be so much better able to diagnose their problem and start the correct treatment.
I wonder if she ate something that she should not have ingested...

She was throwing up...
I know it's gross and I won't mention it again,
except to say that our white coverlet on the bed has been laundered.
(I'm so grateful we own a heavy duty washing machine)

I left dinner in the oven for  MR. HB...
he coaxed Pepper into the kennel cab for me as I hastily wrote out the directions to the hospital from a google map...
I was stressed, scribbling the street names
I'm not proud of it but there was some screaming involved...

I got lost on the way to the hospital...
on a rainy dark night, country roads and unfamiliar territory...
our old Volvo wagon does not have a GPS.

I pulled over to the side of the road and "googled" maps, 
I got a message saying "Do you want to install the Google Map APP now?
NOOOOOO....
I want to get to the vet NOW...

I had to stop at a gas station and call the hospital for directions...
turns out I was two blocks short of their location.

Can you feel my tension
you shouldn't...
I'm just venting.


I had my first ever Kuerig coffee...which btw was delicious.
The "reception" at the hospital was warm and welcoming
the patient and caring staff took care of me as well as Pepper.


Let's take a break/diversion shall we?



Yes the red shoes walked with me to French Class...
they were accompanied by my favourite French made Union Jack tote.
Perhaps it is a weird "statement"
 to carry that tote to class 
but both the textbooks
the French English dictionary
  homework and papers
pencils and pens
and
a bottle of Perrier
fit 
perfectly.

C'est la vie.


I passed by a popular flower stall
brimming with colour...


a market with fresh produce...


I wore classic pearls and diamonds...
with my natural tinsel "highlights"

I'll be 60 in a few weeks so I think I have "earned the right to embrace the grey"
(have you noticed how many women "of a certain age" are blogging about going grey ?)
 Joni Mitchell and Joan Didion have been hired as representatives as the "new faces" for fashion houses.
Boomers, are quite possibly, becoming the IT generation!


I spied these gorgeous Hunter Boots in a shop window
and if I had not been running late for class
I would have rushed in 
and tried them on...


I did just buy some cute and comfy Harvest Tomato Lands' End Bianca ballet flats...
and it was not raining...


 look was hanging out in the same shop window as the Hunter Boots.


Last weekend I left this vest in "the Red Store"
(aka Target)
after conferring with my personal fashion advisor
who has never steered me wrong...
(thanks darling...it does add bulk and I am way too short to carry it off!)

so before I close...


Pepper's picture on her file at the vet clinic...
belly up!
I took it when she helped me "fold the laundry" Mr. HB's Socks!


Pepper was an adorable kitten ...


your little buddy Chester is waiting for you Pepper...


he was asleep when I took this...


Pepper snoozing onboard our Sea Ray last summer....
I'm going to phone the hospital soon and see what kind of night she had...

in the meantime...

I feel a wee bit better having written this all down and sharing it.
Who knows if anyone is out there reading these words?
there might just be an audience of empty chairs...