Have you ever experienced a “near miss?” A car accident you avoided at the last minute, a relationship that ended in time to save you from years of misery?
I experienced a near miss on New Year’s Eve, and I don’t mind admitting it scared the crap out of me.
Just after midnight we donned our coats and headed out to my friend’s front lawn to watch the neighbor set off fireworks. He did a great job and gave us a pretty good show. Shortly after he finished his boom-boom-booming, another neighbor came out with Roman candles. He set these off with little regard for onlookers, and the things shot off in all directions. Before I fully registered that the blast was headed straight for me it zoomed past, a mere 6 inches from my face.
I’m terrified anew every time I consider the consequences had I been standing only 6 inches forward. There were teenagers there who also might have been hurt when the thing hurtled past.
I got lucky, buttercup. Fate was with me on this one, and instead of a 911 call and a trip the hospital, we instead hightailed it indoors and continued our festivities.
After such a “near miss” I’m sure you’d forgive me if I admitted to downing a few extra alcoholic beverages; but no, that isn’t my comfort. I noshed on lemon-pepper wings and triple-chocolate cake. Nectar of the gods. Yum!
I’ve thought a great deal about that Roman candle and the fact that 2012 might have started out quite tragically for me. I’m grateful that it didn’t, that I got lucky this time around. I've been sending ooh-gobs of thank-yous out to the Universe every day since.
I won’t be watching home-presented fireworks again, either. One near miss is quite enough.
Have you ever had a “near miss?” Something that made you grateful from your head down to your toes?
See you next for Book Blurb Friday!
Lisa
17 comments:
Oh, Lisa, that is so very scary. I am glad that you are okay. That guy was being very irresponsible and should not have been doing what he was.
Most of mine have been things like near misses with other cars. Just yesterday on the highway going into to town a guy pulled out into my lane at 60 mph in order to pass 2 cars, and I was right there. It was an unexpected move, to say the least.
I'll be missing BBF this week; we are driving over to Eugene today because it is supposed to start snowing. I'll miss ya!
Kathy
Sounds like the New Year was greeting you with a blessing. I always steer clear of fireworks in the hands of novice shooters.
And my near misses are what I now call experience. :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow
So glad you are okay, Mama Claro!! I had a "near miss" with a car at work because the girl decided it was more important to text and speed in the parking lot then actually look at the mass of people that were crossing.
Fireworks cause me pause, always. My dad held a Roman Candle once and burned his arm badly when I was a child. Ah, he should have known better but I guess he was young and thought indestructible. And when I was four, a sparkler caught my filmy, before-fireproof fabric dress on fire. I was thrown to the grown and rolled but I never trusted sparklers again!
I've hated fireworks ever since my youngest, at the age of 22 months, tried to transfer a sparkler from his left hand (where I, his left-handed mother had placed it) to his right hand, by grabbing hold of the flaming bit. Giving birth to said youngest child was my own near miss, having been a mere three minutes off bleeding to death due to a ruptured uterus... And, yes I count myself lucky to be here!
Kathy - Thanks for your comments. Enjoy your trip to Eugene.
Jules - Near miss as experience. Wish I'd thought of that! LOL
Kristin - Cell phones have caused more accidents than we will ever know. I'm glad it was a "miss!"
Claudia - I'm wary now, as well. Cautionary tales, to be sure.
Sandra - Wow. That near miss in childbirth is one that most mothers-to-be have nightmares about. I'm sure you do count yourself lucky. It certainly puts things into perspective.
So glad you are unscathed. May we all be safe this New Year and beyond.
I would have phoned the police anyway. A little chat with a policeperson might have made your neighbor think twice about the consequences of "little regard for onlookers"!
Safety should always be the first consideration when using fireworks.
I've seen too many tourists behave irresponsibly with fireworks near my parents' longtime winter home in Mexico — they don't know what they're doing but they do it anyway and they think they can get away with it because they're not in their own back yard.
K
Congratulations on your survival.
Thank goodness I am not your neighbor. My husband fancies himself a master firework-setter-offer. That's because he used to work for the city, and was in charge of their 4th of July celebration. Until that year the pickup truck full of fireworks exploded.
Now you've given me inspiration for a post about my many near-misses. The one that stands out right now is my near-fall into a rushing stream in the Alaskan wilderness. My sister grabbed the back of my jacket just in time, as I tripped and leaned over the ledge like a ski jumper, flailing my arms.
Wow, that's scary. I'm glad you're okay. My partner and I were in a car accident last year which could have been very nasty had he not beenquick enough to swerve out of the way so we didn't hit head on. It was scary but those kind of things make you appreciate the fragility of your life and health and how precious they are. You never know what's going to happen, so you have to get the most out of every day and appreciate how lucky you are.
I love fireworks, but I find the home variety quite frightening. I've heard about too many accidents. I am so thankful that you are okay.
I cheated the grim reaper six years ago, although it took a month in an ICU and many painful months of recuperation to do so. Although I still live with the effects of that close call, I consider each day a gift.
Lots to be thankful for! So glad you are okay!
Too many, actually. Glad to hear that you escaped unscathed...and got a reason to have plenty of yummies, too!
Pat
Critter Alley
Whew, glad that thing missed you.
Oh, Lisa I'm so glad you didn't get hurt. I'm very leery of any fireworks that aren't being handled by experts. Since it was New Year's Eve, maybe he'd had too much to drink, too, which just adds to the "leery level!" I can't think of any close calls at the moment...other than "the crowbar incident!"
Lisa, I just deleted the 2nd comment, because it was a duplicate. Sorry! Maybe you will give it a total delete for me?!
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