Elaine

There are those of us who, against better judgment, talk on our cell phones while driving our cars.

Here's the sitch. Im a busy mom, with a home business as a freelance writer, editor, website developer and nutrition consultant. In reality, this means that, between being a mom and being self-employed, I have multiple full-time jobs. Every day is a logistical maze that includes, but is not limited to: managing the household food flow (e.g. shopping, chopping, washing, cooking, feeding, and cleaning up the ensuing mess of dishes and leftovers), trying to keep the kids from looking and acting like savages, transporting them in appropriate attire to various sports, scouts, and other activities, kissing boo boos, bandaging bloody knees, playing games, reading stories, organizing and monitoring playdates deep breath keeping my clients happy, finding new clients, doing the actual work I have to do more breathing practice and running errands, tending the garden, making beds, cleaning toilets, trying to squeeze in exercise and a social life and dont get me started on how many tasks are actually involved in the job known by the simple title of laundry.

All that is just to say that I am, at times, a teensy weensy bit distracted. I may be physically located in one geographic area while Im mentally prancing about in another. And I may be driving with my phone headset plugged into my head, yacking away with a friend or a business contact, while--yes--driving the car. In fact, making calls while driving is what keeps all the balls in the air, ever moving. It is what makes it possible for me to navigate the whole complex obstacle course of my life.

Do I realize that there are inherent dangers in this kind of multi-tasking? I do. And do I do it anyway? Yes, I am confessing right here, right now, that I do. But I also remind myself, each and every time I get into the car, of the grave (ooh, yucky pun!) responsibility I am taking on, not only with regard to my own lifesince there are people who depend on me for food, kisses, and Band-Aidsbut also with regard to the lives of those around me. And Im not just talking about people. I live in an area that abounds with wildlife. Deer, raccoons, bunnies, birds galore, turtles, frogs, whole families of ducks with cute little ducklings, and the absolutely stupidest squirrels on Gods green earth.

No kidding. Ive met hundreds of squirrels in my life, but the ones in my neighborhood are the types that are wracked with indecision whenever a road and an enormous looming vehicle are involved. They run out in front of you, stare at you as if they think they can make you turn around and go away, finally realize that they will lose that one Big Time, and head for the side of the road. But for some reason that only a brain the size of a peanut can fully comprehend, the direction first taken is not always the correct choice. Maybe its not stupidity, at all. How do I know? Maybe squirrels have a certain yen for danger. Maybe my neighborhood squirrels are like the Agent Double-Oh-Sevens of the squirrel world. But for whatever reason, they nearly always dash first for one side of the road, then at the last possible second, when you have pretty much counted on them leaping up into a pine tree, they turn around and go back across the road. Its uncanny. But I know this now, you see, and I have thus never flattened a squirrel. I have nearly driven the car off into a swamp in the effort to avoid running them down, but I have never hit one.

But the scary near-miss I had most recently was with a Canada goose. At the time, I was not only talking on my phone, but since I use a hands-free headset, I was also reaching in my purse for a tube of lipstick. I was not driving fast or carelessly, nor was I taking my eyes off the road for more than a nanosecond at a time. But even so, I was nearly responsible for gander-icide.

Now, a squirrel accident would certainly have been a tragedy, because I am a true animal lover and dont like to hurt anything that lives and breathes. But squirrels, as we know, mate like well, squirrels. They are a plentiful breed. They do not mate like geese, which is to say for life. I dont know a huge amount about squirrels, I confess, but I have a hunch they would settle for the next peanut-brained road hazard that came along. Not so with geese, who pick a mate and stick by them in sickness and in health until death they do part. Thus, when I came around a bend in the road, right along a small lake called, appropriately enough, Wing Lake, I nearly had an aneurism because there stood a stately Canada goose, its flat black feet pasted firmly to the center of the road. And like those nutty squirrels, it stared me down. A squirrel, at least, would have made some move. For that is what they do. They are ever in movement, even if stupidly or indecisively. The Canada goose, though, is not a creature that hurries. The anti-collision efforts at this moment were completely up to me.

I braked, swerved (away from the lakeduh!), and by being completely on task for that critical moment, managed not to annihilate someones life mate. And as I passed the goose (and it's better half, who was parked off-road), the two of us exchanged flustered glances and I suddenly heard the voice of my conscience: This was a test. This was only a test. If this had been a real emergency.

Okay, okay. Ive got it. Check. Next time Ill wait to reach for the lipstick when Im on a straight stretch of road.

But seriously, now, the reason Im telling you all this is because I think its good to be reminded that we never know whats right around the corner. With our hectic schedules, its easy to forget that we each have just one life and one body, and that we have people who need us. And if we forget to be alert, pay attention, and prepare for the unexpected, somebody just may not make it home for dinner.

(c) 2006 Jayna Locke

Jayna Locke is a freelance writer, editor, and website developer, as well as a health and nutrition consultant. Her advice on health can be found on her site at: www.newvitalitynews.com/Ask_Jayna.html She offers a range of health enhancing products on www.newvitalitywellness.com.