Last week, I was on my front porch tempting fate after a night of freezing rain. Should I leave the safety of dry pavement and retrieve the newspaper? Like a guiding star, its ice-coated plastic bag was glistening at the end of my driveway. How bad can it be?
My first step was a cautious one, advancing my front foot two inches. My knees were bent, my arms outstretched beside me, and I had a slight lean forward … looking like a 95 year old without his walker. After two tiny steps on the glazed sidewalk, I began to slide. Not a planned move, I must admit. I just started sliding, without any effort at all, and continued for 3-4 feet. Of course, I was in full control the entire trip … stopped by the flower bed.
While still standing, I had a decision to make: 1) Don’t move until Spring, 2) Take another 2″ step on the icy sidewalk and calculate the “slide” ratio; i.e. how many 2″ steps would it take to reach the paper, or 3) Walk through the flower bed. I chose the flower bed. When I reached the end of the driveway, still on the lawn, I could see that the plastic bag was just wind-blown trash frozen in place. No newspaper delivery. Doh!
Thought for the Day: Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own mind. Franklin D. Roosevelt
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