ISLAND LIVING
By Jocelyn Hainsworth
Be careful what you wish for.
All you people out there who buy lottery tickets and promptly take up dreaming of spending their winnings on a remote island where they will live out their days in peace and luxury – pay attention – a word of caution here; you need to be more specific!
We’ve all seen the lottery commercial with the young, gorgeous couple wandering their personal island, ending up on the patio of their exquisite beach house to relax in the sunshine ... the beach sand is white, the palm trees are perfect, the rum and colas are ice cold and are served with as much lime as they want. There is a boat on the beach in case they should ever want to leave, but get serious, who in their right mind ever would?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the desire to live where the weather is warm year round. It’s a perfectly great idea to want the peace and solitude of living separate and away from the mainstream world. Who doesn’t dream of being served by handsome cabana boys – oh, whoops, probably about the half the population, but you know what I mean - when you’re dreaming you may as well dream big.
Dreaming big is fine; my warning is to be sure to dream more precisely. This can be very important. We had a little lesson in precise wishing last week, and I thought I would share the experience with you so that you don’t make the same mistake we did.
You see, even though I’m enthralled with the tropical island dream on TV, and picture myself wandering those same beaches, when I actually speak of what I would do with my imagined lottery winnings, what I actually say is “I sure would like to try that island living!” Did you note the lack of detail? Did I mention all the things I was picturing? Did I even imply the sand? The rum and colas? The cabana boy servant? No, I did not. How is Lady Luck to know about all of these things if they are not spelled right out for her? She’s a busy lady, you know. She can’t be blamed for the lack of information.
This subject comes up this week because last Thursday we woke up on an island. I can’t say as it was due to a big win in the money department, but I can assure you, it was a big surprise! There was water to the west of us and a waterfall just up the road. There was water in the Quonset and completely covering the Sask Power box in the front yard. There was water to the east of the house and the sump pump was running steady. There was water covering the entire yard, garden and well into the spruce trees in the shelter belt. There was water running uphill out of the barnyard to the east, and there was water within a foot of the top of the well cribbing. There was water across the driveway. We were on an island.
But it wasn’t at all like I had imagined it to be.
It was cold and dark, and dirty snow protruded from the water like icebergs. There was not a single palm tree on the horizon, and although I really could have used a good stiff rum drink for breakfast, there was a real lack of serving boys around as well. Sunshine did not warm my shoulders. Exotic tropical birds did not flit from tree to tree. The dog stood at the water’s edge and tried to get his bearings. This was nobody’s dream come true.
But, it was a lesson learned: be careful - and PRECISE - in what you wish for. I went to work and the Farmer took up some serious wishing of his own – mostly that the weatherman was right and it was going to get much cooler for the next few days so that the meltdown would slow down. He must have done something right because we’re only living on a peninsula now.
No comments:
Post a Comment