It’s been strange kind of two days.

Yesterday morning, in the midst of completing a project for work, I heard the whisper of the wise voice within calling me to pay attention.

“This one’s for you Louise,” it said. “You want to do it. It’s only fear of the unknown holding you back.”

Huh?

I do?

I knew what of the voice was whispering.

For some time now I’ve been pondering what I want to do for my upcoming 70th birthday that would be a celebration of life, adventure and the fierce woman inside dancing in her own light.

Heeding the voices whisperings, I waked upstairs from my office, walked into the bedroom, woke C.C. and said, “I think I’ll book a flight to Ireland.”

Okay. Full disclosure. I had the airline app open on my phone and was about to press, ACCEPT.

From his sleep-addled mind, C.C. replied, “Oh.”

I waited.

“Okay. Good for you.” After which he promptly rolled over, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

I pressed ACCEPT.

On Sep 30, I fly to Dublin for 10 days doing something, I’m not sure what, in Ireland. It is my father’s motherland and it feels… right.

Entering this new decade I want to live by the adage, “Expect the unexpected and you’ll never be disappointed.”

And that’s just the first of my trilogy of unusual happenings.

Later, C.C. and I were talking about dinner and out of the blue, I said, “What about dinner and a movie?”

I had my writer’s group so whatever we were doing, it had to be after 7:30. Which is why we ended up becoming members of the Cineplex VIP club. At 8pm, we were comfortably ensconced in our lounger chairs in front of a ginormous screen, eating dinner, chatting and waiting for our movie to begin.

What made it so unusual is the fact dinner and movie nights were a regular feature in C.C. and my calendar. This, however, was the first movie we’ve gone to since COVID’s reign. And the first time we’d experienced the VIP treatment. It was AWESOME!

The third thing is not quite so refreshing.

This morning, while sitting at my desk in front of our big picture window that overlooks our backyard, and the stretch of woods between it and the river, I smelled smoke, and then saw smoke rising from somewhere in the trees.

I immediately jumped into action, yelling at C.C. to “Get up and come see!” After a few minutes of deliberations, I hit 911 on my phone and told the operator what was transpiring.

Within minutes, a fire truck arrived, three fire fighters walked along the unmarked (and seldom trod in the summer as the woods are so dense) trail along the river and found someone encamped, warming themselves by a fire.

“You can’t light a fire in the woods,” one of the firefighters told the individual. And the fire was extinguished.

I appreciate that living and sleeping rough is hard.

I also appreciate that we have both a drug and housing crisis in our country.

However, we also have a wildfire crisis. A fire in the woods behind our house is terrifying.

My heart rate has come back to nomral, my mind has stopped racing. I feel empathy and compassion for the individual in the woods. I don’t mind having him camped there (though I’d prefer if he used a shelter.) Sleeping rough is risky, particularly if drugs are involved.

However, lighting a fire in the woods behind our house is not acceptable. I shall stay vigilant.

C.C. and Beaumont have gone back to bed. I continue to sit at my desk, savouring the beauty of this glorious July morning.

I have adventures afoot.

Perhaps these two days are the invitation to get used to living within a world of unexpected’s. Perhaps, it’s the invitation to let go of fear and dive into adventure!

Namaste