The Right Place at the Right Time

Brookgreen Gardens' Flora

Two weeks from tomorrow, I am running a 5K in Brookgreen Gardens and I can't wait. The folks there do a spectacular job in the gardens. It is sure to be the prettiest 5K I've ever done.

Not much happening on the home front this week. I've been exercising like crazy, went catfishing with Cliff and saved a toddler's life today and his mama doesn't even know it. Well, maybe she does now. I hope her friend reamed her out about it. I should have. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! Tell you the whole story in a sec.

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Exercise:

Next Sunday, Cliff and I are running this 10K on Caper's Island. It's a barrier island near Charleston and we have to take a ferry to get there. We'll run through the bone yard. That's what the stretch of downed trees is called. Doesn't that sound like fun? Yeah, I thought so too. But get this, I ran 2 miles on the beach this week to train for it and y'all, it is harder than I thought. I'm convinced that running 2 miles on the beach is the equivalent of running 4 miles on pavement. I may be in trouble. For real!

The week in review:

Sunday - Ran 7 miles (was planning on half of that being run on the beach, but the tide was way too high)

Monday - Much needed rest and recovery day

Tuesday - Biked 5.05 miles

Wednesday - Ran 2 miles on the beach (OMG!) and ran 2 more on the road...total 4 miles

Thursday - Biked 15 miles (can we say 'sore sit bones')

Friday - Ran 3.05 miles, hydrated and then biked 11.88 miles (this was a 2-hour exercise day, in case you were wondering)

Saturday - Rest day (because I have another long run planned for Mother's Day)

Fishing:

I nearly forgot.....I went fishing with Cliff. I don't do this often, like almost never. I find it extremely boring. However, he's been wanting me to go, so I caved. We put the boat in the river and rode down to a favorite little riverside restaurant for dinner. We couldn't start fishing until sunset. I don't know what you call it, but it's the kind of fishing where you tie strings on a branch hanging over the water with a hook and bait.  It might be called putting out trot lines.?.?. Ever heard of that? Cliff uses strings that glow in the dark when a light hits it. He uses his flashlight to locate them after dark. So here we go, slowly working our way down a creek off the main river, tying the strings onto branches. It was a lovely night. We saw osprey in their nests and a couple of hawks flying by. After dark, you could see the stars so clearly. They were absolutely gorgeous. This may be Cliff's idea of a romantic evening. Ha! It was, kind of. But then I remembered.....I was missing American Idol! Lawd, I nearly panicked. I let out a squeal and he thought something had me. It's a good thing I had my iPhone with me. I remembered that I could watch TV on it and heck; I even had ear phones in my bag so Cliff didn't have to listen. He's just not crazy about American Idol. And for that reason, I think he has a screw loose. Anyway, watching American Idol on my iPhone worked perfectly. I didn't have to miss a thing...not Idol and certainly not my romantic night catfishing with Cliff.

The Toddler:

I took Lidia and Sawyer to the indoor pool today. They are pretty good swimmers for their age and I don't have to constantly watch them. I am able to read a book, while still being vigilant, too. But, I would never leave them alone or even leave their care up to a life guard. I sit right beside the pool in the area where they are playing.  I noticed the life guard had stepped out of the building and thought that odd because there were children in the pool. I'm sure the kid's parents were there as well, but still...no life guard is not a good thing. All I can say is thank the Lord I was there. A family arrived with several small children and the two smallest ones came in and proceeded to walk down the steps into the pool. I saw a woman come in and then turn around and walk back out again. Apparently, she was rinsing her feet off and I guess she thought they would be okay for the few seconds it took to do this. Then I noticed the youngest child had drifted off the steps. At first, he was keeping his head above water, but then it became clear he was in over his head. In a split second, I saw him go under and struggle to get back up while at the same time looking and reaching for the other child, who was still on the step. The woman, whom I assumed was his mother, was back inside, but had her back turned to them. I looked at her to see if she was at all alarmed and still she had her back turned. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I yelled, "He needs help". I kicked off my flip flops and ran down into the pool. He saw me coming and reached his little hand out to me and I grabbed him up. I stayed with him holding his hand until I could get the woman's attention. I said, "He just went under and couldn't get back up". A man that had seen it, also, said, "He just paid the bottom of the pool a visit".  She just looked at us and smiled. I was like, woman!...your child just nearly drowned and you are acting so nonchalant about it. I was dumbfounded. I went back to my chair and in just a minute she came over and thanked me. She then told me that her friend, the child's mother, just let him go in without her. And then she walked away. I should have gone to talk to the mother myself, but really I thought I had. Now that the whole thing is over, I can think of many things I should have done and wished I had. But in the moment, I was completely dumbfounded. I hope the friend scared the c-word out of that child's mother. She doesn't know how lucky she is this Mother's Day!

To be in the right place at the right time is certainly humbling. Thank the Lord, He was able to use me today.

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Happy Mother's Day!

Laurie