The Story of Life

Everyday is a new story.

An interesting remark made by my friend, Steve who was working on my boat this morning.

Had me reflect on a conversation I had earlier in the week with a young man in the dairy isle at the grocery store.

Initially he remarked to me, as I walked by that the dozen eggs he’d picked up were short one. We concurred we’d never seen that before.

As it happens I was taking my time idling over yogurt and Kozy Shack Rice Pudding. Neither of which came home with me.

This guy is in I would say his early 20’s. Looks well kept, intelligent.

Comes back over to me and declares that on March 22 there is going to be 7 magnitude earthquake. Not necessarily here. Some where in the world.

He goes on to explain the cycles of earthquakes.

This was on Monday.

The following day I am shocked but not entirely surprised to see a news alert that there was a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in Mexico.

So he was a few days early I conclude.

Yesterday was my son’s birthday. His 20^th.

I decided since I’ve been learning all things electronic I would compile a digital birthday card for him. It ended up being five minutes long.
If we don’t compile our digital images into something, we may never get a chance to see them. Unless you use a digital photo frame.

Everyday there is a new story to tell. To reflect on. To look back on and to remember.

In our story of life.

Grateful For Living

John told me today that he was lucky to be alive. That he savoured each day with gratitude. Some years ago he’d had half his intestine removed. Some kind of rare protein deficiency in his blood I believe.
John has a boathouse next to the one I am working in. This was a fruitful conversation as were accounting for doing things right. We both agreed that taking the time to do a job properly was better then going half ass. In this case we were referring to the job I was working on. It was an old boat. The varnish was badly checked. Instead of patching I’d started from the beginning. Stripped it all down and sanded it clean and smooth.
John left and the words “Life can change in a heartbeat,” echoed in my mind. We all know that.
I immediately thought of the day I had arrived home to a Tsunami warning sign posted on our security gate. As I hadn’t tuned into the radio, this came as a complete surprise. An earthquake in Chile the cause.
This led my thinking to the ash cloud, flooding, forest fires and hurricanes. Yes, life can change in a heartbeat, not only with your health - but with the world we live in. The world as we know it changed forever with 911.
I took a deep breath and carried on. Grateful for the opportunity to live today.