Nightly Reflections – Tuesday, April 23rd, 2024

Well, let me begin by starting with one of the oldest start lines in history…”A funny thing happened to me on the way to ….” One difference, however, is it wasn’t funny. Had I left the house five to ten seconds sooner, I would have been part of an accident that occurred almost right in front of me. I was probably less than a block from being involved in it. I was coming out of my development and planning on turning on to 42 when I witnessed an accident, at high speed I might add, occur. I have been in two accidents in my life and I remember the sound of the metal connecting and the brakes and just the terror that is a car accident. This left me cold, if I’m being honest. From what I could gather, the car traveling east and was ready to turn into my development smashed into a car traveling west on 42 at likely 55 to 60 mph. The impact was loud and the metal went flying. Immediately the driver of the car that appeared to be at fault got out of what looked to be a male, so his car. He seemed somewhat dazed as he approached the car he hit. I couldn’t even see the driver of the other car, so not sure if they went down in the seat or if I just wasn’t seeing them, but the driver of the “guilty” car (I’ll say) seemed perhaps upset? By then, a female driver who had stopped on 42 stopped at the one car, and then began to nonverbally with her arm, push the other driver away. All I could surmise from that is the driver was upset? Dunno. But, I knew I wouldn’t be getting out onto 42 that way, so I turned around to head out another way. By then, other adults had stopped and were dealing with the situation. Left me cold, though. And shaken. To see something like that basically right in front of you is a troubling image. One I’ll think of all night long, I’m sure. Before I turned around, I took a pic seconds after it had happened as I sat in my car, stunned at what I had just seen. Zoom in and you’ll see the damage to both cars. The silver car on the right of the picture would have rammed right into me as it bounced off the first car. Yup. Was my lucky day, I guess.

And on that happy note, Happy Tuesday! What a nice day, eh? Based on what I just read from the folks at Novak Weather, I won’t be surprised if this weekend’s track meets are all cancelled. He’s predicting heavy rains all weekend long. Says it’s likely the drought this region has been experiencing will be history. That news will at least make the farmers happy, I suspect. But our poor track program can’t seem to get a break. Last year, the first four of five weekends were miserable weather. This year is not starting much better. I feel bad for the kids if that’s how it shakes out again this weekend.

Last night, I was beginning to feel a little like something might be coming on in my body. It felt like allergies perhaps. At times, I had a little bit of a sore throat moment. Well, I woke up twice, mostly because my subconscious was likely making sure I’d wake up in time to take my buddy to the airport, but each time I woke, to swallow was a painful experience. I can’t remember the last time I had a sore throat, but I did and do. It’s better now than then. However, keep in mind I sleep with air blowing in my mouth all night, for the most part because of my CPap machine. Today, I have sneezed and drippy nose and burning eyes and the throat lingers. Allergies would make sense since it’s the change of the seasons. I wanted to sleep for the first part of the day until I knew I had to leave the house so I could wake up and get some fresh air before meeting my former colleague for coffee. I’m far from feeling 100% so we’ll see how the rest of the day goes. But I know I don’t like feeling like this right now. I am not used to feeling sick.

My Brewers lost last night, so hoping they rebound tonight. When your team has played well and put together another 4-game winning streak, a loss is somewhat difficult to process, but they aren’t going to win every game, so of course that’s reality in baseball, but they’re too good not to win more games than games they lose. They’ve been a bit of a surprise in the eyes of their fans and the baseball forecasters, so hoping the Cinderella season we’re witnessing continues. Cuz it’s sure been fun.

I had a very nice coffee time with my friend with whom I once taught down the hall about four rooms from hers. She’s a writer so we always have common ground on which to land regarding our writing and our writing processes. I am sure it seems odd to those of you who never have written creatively, but for both of us, creating something from nothing is quite a ride with many a high and low along the way. She’s got a book right now she’s pitching out there. She’s waiting for that big ACCEPTANCE letter that will really kick start her second career after she retires. It’s all very exciting for the two of us, and that’s all it has to be. I showed her my new laptop and grumbled about a crumb resting on the keyboard, my fault. She opened my eyes to the fact I can get a protective case for my laptop and screen protector as well as keyboard cover. I just ordered it and it will be here tomorrow. I could go with many options of designer but I went with a straight color and if it arrives tomorrow before I post, then I’ll shoot some pics of it and you’ll see 🙂 Gotta keep this laptop as clean as possible! For now, at least 😛

Time for Brewer baseball and soon dinner. That’s going to be the first part of my evening. Still not feeling great. Still sneezing and blowing my nose. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. It’s Writing group day. For now, though, I am shutting this down. I feel like I could fall asleep right now. Allergies? A cold? Who knows! Stay healthy and we’ll see you Wednesday night!

G’Night!