Last week I hit a moose with my car.
I’m alive, but the moose is not.
I can still hear the crunch as its head smacked into my windshield and can taste the chalky flavour of safety glass dust on my lips.
If I close my eyes, I can relive the moment when I thought the smashed glass was going to slam into my face.
In the movies, the doomed characters often claim that their whole lives flash before their eyes.
Unfortunately, if that’s how it goes then I feel like I got shafted.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful that all I got were a few minor scratches and a car that needs a new windshield, but does that mean that my life just hasn’t amounted to much over the 36 years I’ve been on this earth?
I don’t know.
However, I now wholeheartedly acknowledge that there is a purpose to all things, whether I understand it, or not.
There has to be or else I wouldn’t be here.
In a 100 different ways, by a 100 different factors, I shouldn’t be.
I count myself lucky.
I’m lucky that the moose was not a bigger animal or that it was not one second faster and that it didn’t have much in the way of antlers.
I’m lucky that an off-duty firefighter just happened to be heading down the road at the same time as me and saw the impact.
I’m lucky that I didn’t smash into anyone else afterward and that nobody was seriously hurt.
Incidentally, I got to celebrate Thanksgiving by truly being thankful for something for a change, something that hasn’t become routine because the holiday comes around year-after-year.
I spent a lot of time thinking about what happened that night and will probably think about it for a good long time to come.
I don’t know about you but today the fall weather just doesn’t feel all that cold.
Do yourselves a favour.
Be extra cautious, especially when driving conditions aren’t the best and keep your eyes open.
You might not be as lucky as I was.
