The road not taken

[sapphoto]

Have you ever had one of those experiences that lets you know you've got a guardian angel riding shotgun with you?

It hasn't happened to me before tonight.

It all started as a sketchy report over the scanner. Serious accident, possible fatal, closing the road. I'm riding solo tonight(or so I thought), so I hit the road. I approach the exit for the first road to get to the accident. Something in my head urges me to go to the next exit. I figured it would just be a quicker route to the accident.

I get to the scene, grab my gear, walk over to the scene when one of the police cars takes off lights and sirens blaring and then a firetruck does the same. One of the fire fighters then tells me they are working a fatal accident that just happened on the road I decided not to take less than a mile from the first accident.

It took me a minute to clear my head before I could shoot the all too simple scene of crumpled metal.

I'm not sure where I would have been on the road when the second accident happened but I would have been really close if it weren't for that nagging in my head to take the other road.

Some of the cynics here may scoff at my thoughts of divine intervention, but I'm sure someone else has had something similar happen.

[Terry E. Toller]

Glad you're OK. Give thanks...

[cameragod]

Got rear-ended this morning on the way to work. The back of my poor car is a mess and my neck is starting to hurt. Have a 14-day stretch of work starting a who knows how long I’ll be working out of a courtesy car? Thank goodness for the barrier between the cargo bay and the rest of the car. The gear bounced around but is all is ok. After getting all the details for insurance I got some shots of the damage.
I guess you never know what’s coming next especially if you spend as much time on the road as we do. Drive carefully and always assume everyone else on the road is an idiot.

[andypoms]

Originally posted by cameragod:
Drive carefully and always assume everyone else on the road is an idiot. Hate to break it to you, but everyone else on the road IS an idiot. ;)

It's bad when driving a marked newscar, and worse when drive a live truck (esp. the BIG one I drive). I've had people try to merge into me - when I'm driving our WolfCoach Power Truck on an International chassis (our old analog sat truck upgraded to digital) - IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO LOSE IN A BLIND SPOT!!

[ January 20, 2005, 11:51 AM: Message edited by: fmrIntern ]

[shootist]

guardian angels? no doubt here....

i'll lay one on y'all...swear it's 100% true.

my father died in '79 and though i think of him often, he has never been a frequent visitor to my dreams.

few years back...late 90s i have a dream where my father comes to see me. driving a silver porsche convertible with a white scarf around his neck. we went out for a nice ride and conversation. it was an enjoyable dream for me...but...

i tell my wife about it in the morning and she's very upset...thinking it represents him "coming to take me".

that night i'm shooting a high school football playoff game. it goes into OT and i'm running late going back to the station. i start pushing the speed factor a tad.

i'm on a winding back road in the dark at about 25 mph over...on a cold November night. as i come down a hill, a car passes me going the other way.

yeah...it was a silver porsche convertible with the top down...top down? in november? 10:45 at night?

i got shivers...i was rattled...i immediately slow WAY down...

bottom of the hill the road turns sharply to the right...i'm only able to stay in my lane because i had slowed down.

as i hit the blind right town and fight to stay in my lane...a semi comes around the corner the other way.

no doubt in my mind i'd have been pancaked if i hadn't slowed down...i wouldn't have slowed down if i hadn't passed that porsche...and if i hadn't had that dream...and if....

anyway...i get feelings like sapphoto described all the time. i think we all do. it's just whether you listen to them or not.

i do...i will.

[<elvez>]

Dude....