The Basics of Life

Early this morning, my wife and I were talking about the unpredictability of life, and how we could never have imagined the twists and turns our lives have taken. This is a fact I’ve meditated upon quite a bit lately, and it has ushered in a phase — who knows for how long? — in which I am saturated with a sense of anticipation, a feeling of “What’s in store for me today?” And not in a feeling of dread or doom, but open curiosity. I welcome it, for however brief it may be.

A few miles from work, I passed a wooded area next to a gas station/convenience store. When I glanced to my left, I saw a magnificent buck standing in a ray of sunshine, looking over at the passing traffic. I wished him well, hoping he wouldn’t be spurred to run out into traffic and wondering if the other deer look at him and appreciate his beauty. As I drove on, I kept thinking of him, and of the dark woods behind him, and what might be lurking in their leafy shadows. Danger behind him, danger in front of him, and yet his brown eyes were clear and alert; he was not staring down at his hooves, nor was his buck-brow furrowed with care. I smiled at his composure, yet one more element of his beauty, and I drove on.

Just a few blocks from work, a girl in a red car was coming towards me in the opposite lane. I could see her as clearly as I could see the buck I’d passed; she was texting with one hand and driving with the other, her face aimed down at the phone. She was over the center line and headed straight towards me. The curb was just a foot to my right, with heavy trees beyond them; I had no place to go. I shoved my hand into the center of the steering wheel, the horn screeching out at her. Her head snapped up and she yanked the wheel to her right just as my tires scraped the curb on my right. Her car missed mine by a mere few inches, and as she passed me, she was screaming curses at me. She was cursing at me.

I pulled in beneath my tree and parked and cut the engine and sat there, breathing heavily. I wondered where the girl was, and then I thought of the buck, and the dark woods behind him. And then I remembered that I could never have predicted anything about the drive this morning.

What’s in store for me?

The day is sunny and will be hot, and I have no idea what else is coming. A shrug and a small smile. Open curiosity, and I welcome it.

~ S.K. Orr