Doug Goodman

This morning I was in a collision.  A kid/young man in a Honda hit the 4Runner with enough power to knock it 90 degrees and into the street ditch.  We both were able to walk away from the collision, which is a great thing, but I was on my way to pick up more lumber to work on the fence.  So I've been rained on when I tried to dig holes, had allergies whipped up by winds yesterday, and now going to get lumber I've been in a collision.  This is the fence from hell. 

They say that in such situations, time slows down.  For me, it didn't.  Once second I was driving to Home Depot, the next I was in a ditch. 

They also say that these are the kinds of experiences that build a writer.  I've never bought from that catalog.  I would rather live a life without injuries and collisions.  This was my first collision where I was driving.  I was in one other collision that I remember, and that was way back when I was in college and my brother was driving.  His car was totaled, too, and for a while his life took a nosedive.  I'm worried the same might happen to me - mostly because of what happened to him, but also because of the bad timing.  We're still making deductibles on the house.  To add car payments on top of that, plus trying to put something down on a new vehicle...it's less than ideal.

I'm reminded of the new Metallica song, My Apocalypse, which goes:

Crushing metal, Ripping Skin
Tossing body mannequin
Spilling Blood, Bleeding Gas
I definitely felt like a mannequin.  Fortunately, I was wearing my seat belt, but my glasses went flying, and a friendly witness who stopped went and found them for me.  One of the worst sights was seeing the car pulled out of the ditch by the tow truck.  With one tire squashed to the side and lying limp, it seemed very unfitting for a car my family has loved.  We've had this car since 2000.  But more on that later.  For now, I thank God for my safety.