Years ago, while waiting for my daughter and son to have their swimming lesson at the YMCA, I flipped through the pages of a local free newspaper. There I found a column entitled Free Will Astrology by Rob Brezney. Among his pearls I recognized some truths, some posibilities and questions. For example, this week the horoscope for Aquarians reads:" Your new vocabulary word for the week if 'skookum,' a term from the Chinook Indians that is still used in some parts of British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest." Skookum means "in cahoots with good spirits" and, after what I experienced today, I would say that must be true. But Rob knew something big metaphysically was about to happen to me. A month or so ago he wrote that in the near future I would have an experience that would put me in touch with "otherness." And over the weeks that prediction has crossed my mind. I wondered, where is it? I found out on my way to work this morning.
I, along with thousands of fellow New Englanders, travel a road know as the Merritt Parkway, aka Route 15, to get to work. This road was constructed in the 1930's and its claim to fame is that all if its bridges are different and lovely. It is a National Historic treasure.
Well, today, as I was about to drive under one of these bridges, a steel girder fell onto the pavement. I swerved into the right lane immediately and was grateful that there was no one there to hit. I was confused as to whether I should pull over, or call someone (whom?) or what. I kept on driving when I saw a van and a sports car slow to stop. I put the thought of the near disaster for me out of my mind, as I was driving to test a student at a school dedicated to students with learning disabilities. I could not be upset for him. The experience hit me, however, when I returned to my office building and I could not help but to share the story with friends and co-workers. Returning to my office, I went to place my car keys into the pocket of a raincoat that I have had for many seasons. For the first time I noticed a label that had been sewn into the pocket. It read: Life is a journey. Stay warm. Keep dry. If there was an iota of doubt about the fact that I was being protected by "otherness" and today was not my day to die, it evaporated upon reading the message in the pocket.
Life is a journey. Stay warm. Keep dry.
