Have you ever had that feeling that something bad was about to happen? Or a gnawing feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you that you need to hold back a little, slow down, or don’t sign up for that motocross race? Do you have a routine of things you meticulously follow, for fear of what might come if you don’t?
Let me first say this, I really dislike the word superstitious, I feel it often labels one as “illogical”. Even still, as a nurse, I’ve discovered there are some things you just don’t say out loud, and you try not to even think them. For example, I’ve learned to never say, “Wow, I can’t believe how slow the emergency room (ER) has been tonight.” Or, “Can it GET any WORSE around here?” Remarks such as these, are like putting a neon sign on the interstate that says, “Come to the hospital, we’re bored, and we don’t already have enough action going on around here.”
As far as any other superstitions go, I’m just not there. I knock the salt shaker over all the time, I have broken more mirrors than I can keep track of, and I would sooner pet the black cat that just crossed in front of me, than to turn around and run. And as for the number 13, that was my husband’s number on the fire department for many years. It wasn’t changed until he became Assistant Fire Chief, which made him number 2.
I know there are a lot of interesting superstitions out there, and maybe some of you follow them to the letter; that’s okay with me, and quite honestly I would love to hear about them.
Intuition and premonition differ from superstition, although they are similar to one another. I have always had strong, positive feelings about intuition. I believe there are forces both within, and beyond, our control. Sometimes things happen in our lives that completely blindside us. I believe that many times, if we think hard enough, we can remember having a feeling (good or bad), or some kind of sign that might have clued us in, had we only paid better attention.
Being a nurse, and a mother, I rely on my sense of intuition. There’s a difference between using your brain to make good choices, and that of following what your “personal radar” is telling you. I try to use both, regularly. Smart thinking rarely gives me any grief, however intuitive thinking/feelings often finds me at odds with my son & husband. I’m thankful our daughter, Emily, takes after me in that way, otherwise I might start to question my own sanity.
My husband, CF, doesn’t give intuition, premonition, or superstition, a second thought. He doesn’t believe in signs, and he certainly does not believe we have any sort of control over happenings, just because we said something out loud. I love him anyway (smile).
I don’t want to give you the wrong impression of my dear husband, he really is not as close-minded as I may have just portrayed him to be. CF is an intelligent man; he is skillful, resourceful, and did I mention he’s quite handy with heavy machinery? He’s a manly man; he knows what it is to work outside in extreme heat, or the fierce cold, and does hard, physical labor. He’s the guy with the farmer’s tan (although farming is not his full-time job), with tough, tanned skin on his arms and the back of his neck, tromping around in his freakishly heavy work boots (I wouldn’t make it down the block in those things). He’s not really into exercise, per say, however he does enjoy racing motocross as a hobby. This is where intuition screams out loud for me, and says nothing to him.
A year ago, we were at a motocross race in Nebraska, one that is quite known for frequent, and frequently serious, injuries. Both CF & Sid were signed up to race that day. It was the usual hot, sticky, buggy day. I remember CF having a little concern with two things that morning, 1.) They were running his Vet Open class together with the Open Amateurs (over 30’s vs the young and reckless), and, 2.) He felt some concern over the 120′ (long) tabletop jump. Although he knew he could jump it, he’d also seen far too many riders wreck badly on it. That said, I kissed him good luck, and sent my guys off to the starting gate.
Everything started out well. He was fast, and he looked great going over that tabletop. Through my camera lens, I’m watching him jump, and land, perfectly. Just as he landed, I noticed the guy who had been behind him, had now taken on a new location and was literally over top of him. He landed across CF’s upper back; motorcycle, rider, and all.
By this point, I’m already panicking. You can see the other rider was pulling back on his bike to avoid CF.
Please excuse the out-of-focus photos, I was video-taping the race, and was able to nab a couple of still shots off of the video.
Any camera shot after this moment was blurred, as I dropped the camera and ran.
It was a horrendous crash, one that will forever be burned into my memory. After about 30 seconds of laying motionless, facedown on the ground, CF awoke to the pain of broken ribs and a broken collarbone. While running across the track as fast as my feet would take me, I remember looking at the flag person in front of me and saying, “That’s my husband”. But what was going through my mind was, “If you even think about trying to stop me, Mister, I’m going to lay you out flat!”
The other guy didn’t fare so well either. After crashing headfirst into the embankment, the face mask of his helmet was completely broken in half and gaping wide open. His nose was broken, and he had bitten all the way through his tongue, pretty badly I might add. His bike was for sale on Craig’s List one week later, “To help pay recent medical bills” is what he said in the description. (Am I alone here in thinking this sport is insane?)
The question is, did CF have a “premonition” that morning? Or at least some “intuition”? His exact words to me had been, “I’m just worried that one of the open amateur riders is going to clear that jump and land on me.” And then…it happened!
If you haven’t already read through the first post in my blog, “Playing in the Dirt”, please watch the video and see some motherly intuition unfold before your very eyes (another motorcycle mishap). Thanks for visiting!
With Wild Abandon 