Driving down the road about a mile from our house in an older section of Athens, Malcolm kept the car in second gear as he slowly rounded a curve. Houses built a half-century earlier were tucked high on hills accessible only by steep driveways that tested the driving skills of even the most veteran driver. Graceful oaks and towering pines lined the thickly wooded area, lending their shade in a cocoon-like darkness.
Malcolm and the girls did not speak while they headed for their destination. The radio was playing the latest offering from the station that Jenny liked. The speakers hummed with the bass as the radio blared in the amicable silence. Then it happened. From the steep concrete driveway nestled in the middle of a curve, a lawnmower rolled. An old gas-powered model, it came straight and steady, moving toward its unaware target. As Malcolm’s Volvo sedan rounded the curve, the mower continued its descent, rolling in front of the car to the other side of the road where it stopped in a pile of underbrush. The startled passengers looked to the right and saw a man standing at the top of the driveway, his mouth seemingly frozen open.
Shock gave way to delighted shouts. “Did you see that? A lawn mower just rolled in front of us!” Laughter replaced the raucous rock music, preserving the moment forever in the minds of my husband and our girls.
Contemplating the incident later after I had heard the story several times, I imagined it was like a scene in a play, the events unfolding in slow motion, the director calling for “Action!” and, at the end, “Cut!” Whenever I pass the site, I look to the right and visualize the man standing in shocked silence as the lawn mower totters down the concrete driveway, no longer in his control. I play the scene in my mind, always letting the mower pass in front of my car just as it rounds the curve. I never, however, add a scene to the play, never let myself imagine stopping the car and talking to the owner of the runaway machine. Somehow that would take away the surprise and spontaneity that make the incident so memorable.
I did not see the lawn mower take its unexpected ride down the driveway, yet its journey is imprinted in my mind, a scene in an always enfolding drama. It reminds me of how the unexpected can occur at any moment, changing the script of my life, bringing events and people to me that I might or might not welcome. I know that on any day the unexpected can roll my way. When it does, let me shout, “Did you see that?” and always remain open to whatever life brings my way.
Powered by WPtouch Mobile Suite for WordPress
