Three Good Things 11-27-2006
Published Tue, Nov 28 2006 1:23 AM
I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning. There's nothing unusual about that, but what I heard interested me. I didn't hear the entire topic of conversation because I had to stop and buy gas, but I heard about someone that thought about three good things that happened to them and why they were good. The more they did this before retiring for the evening, the happier they found themselves.
It sounded like a good exercise. Anyway, I thought about it a little and decided it might not be such a bad idea. I'm pretty happy with my life already, so I don't think I need the therapy. Still the recent Thanksgiving holiday served as a reminder that I have a lot of things to be thankful for in my life.
One of my friends and former co-workers keeps a live journal site. Every now and then she puts up a "thankful Thursday" post. Generally it's just a list of things she's thankful for, but it's another reminder that we have things to be thankful for all of the time, and not just on some officially sanctioned holiday.
On that note, here are three good things that happened in my life on 11-27-2006:
My mother is visiting from Tennessee. She flew into town the Friday after Thanksgiving and she'll be here until the 5th of December. I'm not a particularly dutiful son, but for some strange reason my mother still loves me and wants me to know it.
Earlier this summer I had an infection in my gums. At first I thought it was a sinus condition, but upon a visit to a dentist, root canal therapy was indicated. When I had the root canal work done the dentist was concerned about a dark mass in my x-rays and recommended that I see an oral/maxilofacial surgeon. One thing led to another, and after several different surgeons examined x-rays and CT scans I finally ended up scheduled for surgery at the University of Washington.
When my mother found out about all of this, she insisted on coming out to visit to provide support while I recovered from the surgery. We talked about it, and not knowing when the surgery would actually be performed, agreed that she should come out after the surgery was done.
As it turns out, I had the surgery on October 19th and had a bone cyst removed. Everything went well, although I still haven't regained feeling in the gum and teeth immediately below where the cyst had been growing.
Anyway, my mother came out as soon as she could after dealing with her fairly hectic schedule and now she's here for a vist. So there, in one package, I have two things to be tremendously thankful for. The surgery went well, and the cyst appears to have been benign. A tremendous source of fear and trepidation is over with and I can't tell you how relieved I am. And to top it off, my mother still cares for me. And that's pretty darned good.
On another note, I made it home safely tonight. I stayed at work a little longer than I should have, and got caught on the roads during the beginning of tonights "snow storm". I'm aware that what we here in the Puget Sound region call a snow storm isn't much to people used to such things, but when everyone on the roads is equally inexperienced with driving in the snow and on ice, scary things can happen.
I tried to leave work at around 5:30 PM. On most nights I leave between 6:30 and 7:00 PM and it takes me about an hour to drive home. Tonight, it took me two hours. And at that, I was lucky. The first 45 minutes or so was just driving the six or seven blocks from where I work to the freeway. In that short time the roadway went from being bare and wet to slushy, to coated in ice.
Once I got to the freeway things were a little better, but not by much. All of the southbound lanes were full of cars crawling along at 25 mile per hour. People were stopping and trying to change lanes every couple of hundred feet. Someone would stop and traffic behind them would back up until they cleared enough of the lane for people to go around. And then someone else would do it.
After about two miles of this the roads suddenly opened up. And then, just as quickly the congestion was back. With the blowing snow, people were aware of stopping distances and I didn't see anybody sliding, at least not yet. The congestion hung on for a while and then I thought I saw a possible reason for it. Ten minutes later, I drove past an articulated bus that appeared to have jackknived while travelling down the HOV lane. It wasn't going anywhere, and it was blocking two lanes.
As I was noticing that, I also was noticing tire tracks in the snow. Right in that same area, at least three or four cars had spun out on the road. I didn't see any evidence of collisions, but there were a few cars moving very slowly. I passed one car, a small one with bad tires. I was going about 20 miles an hour, but this poor soul was going about two or three miles an hour. His front tires were spinning maddly though. I bet his speedometer was reading something like 25 or 30 miles per hour.
Traffic didn't improve much for the next couple of miles. Then the snow slackened, and amazingly I found myself on bare and wet pavement again. For the next five or six miles it was smooth sailing. And then the sky opened up. The snow came down in a white blanket, and in the space of a hundred yards or so I was riding on compact snow and ice. The next several miles were like that.
On a couple of occasions I lost traction myself, but I was going slowly enough, and had enough distance between me and the nearest vehicle that I was able to recover without any mishaps. Other people weren't so lucky. I saw one car facing the wrong way not too far ahead of me.
I saw more cars that looked as if they had just spun out. Finally and as suddenly as it had resumed the snow just quit. I was able to drive out of it in moments and then the rest of my trip was on bare and wet pavement, until I got into town. The snow just started again as I was driving the last two miles toward home, but it never got hard enough to be a worry.
I was lucky. It only took me two hours to get home. The people that went to Qwest Field to watch the Seahawks and the Packers play football had a five hour congestion nightmare. There were numerous accidents.
As I write this, I'm sitting in my dining room, watching a warm cozy fire burn in the fireplace. I'm warm, I'm dry, and I'm safe. And that's another thing I'm thankful for. My family was worried for me. I was a bit worried too, watching what was going on around me on the freeways.
Everything's not as good as it could be though. Tonight my stepson is in Federal Way instead of at home because his car doesn't have good traction tires and it would be suicidal for him to try to drive it home tonight. Even so, I'm thankful he's got the sense to stay with friends instead of risking his life and someone elses driving in conditions he's neither prepared for nor experienced enough to handle.
So there you have it. Three, maybe even four things I'm really thankful for tonight: My health, the love of my family, my safety and comfort, and a son that's smart enough to know his limitations. I have them all through the grace of God. Others in the world are not so fortunate.
The world is not a friendly place, but with God's help we have a great deal to be thankful for. I guess it's all in how you look at it.
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