Circumstantial Mastery

It snowed late yesterday afternoon and overnight. Temps dipped ten below freezing. It is like a total body ice cream headache. Although beautiful in a blanket of snow, the roads are treacherous, the blankets more like sheets of black ice. My truck is notoriously bad in these conditions. With very little back end weight, I manually load-up a few fir rounds to augment the limited ‘stock’ traction. Making matters worse is the infamous topography of our island. There are precious few stretches where elevation gain is less than two percent - and plenty with ten plus. In these conditions my personal approach has always been to not venture out unless absolutely necessary. Stay put unless an SOS arrives.

Or unless an appointment, for whatever reason(s), absolutely, positively cannot be cancelled.

Like my appointment today with the head of Cardiology at UW Medical Center, an appointment we made almost three months ago, when even then, it was considered long overdue. I chuckled at the thought of matters of the heart being notable exceptions to my black ice rule.

I got a little breathing room when my 0845 spin class was cancelled, but the options spiraled considerably downward as transportation logistics unfolded. Here is what I was five minutes from doing (when the clinic called and offered a re-scheduling): Hike the four miles through a series of connecting paths and trails to the ferry terminal. The last time I did this, under similar conditions taking Dad’s medication to him, it took a little over an hour. Following with a 35 minute ferry ride, incredibly unsettling video of which has already appeared on social media sites, a hike up Seattle’s Pioneer Square hills and a 40 minute light-rail ride to UW. After all that I could check in to see the good doctor. While the adventure of all this is enticing, there is a lot that could go wrong. I will admit to you here and now, that when offered a chance to re-schedule to March 6, it was a snappy decision.

My day has gone from a spin class, doctors appointment and PowerBarn session tonight, to nothing. All cancelled due to the inclemencies and dangerous road conditions. We will never know if that is for the better.

It does, however, illustrate the majesty of a phrase I read last night (while toasty under the comforter, the heated fitted sheet on high and a nearby electric heater) from A Gentleman from Moscow, by Amor Towles, a novel of extraordinary lyrical beauty from which I will quote many more times in the coming weeks:

If a man does not master his circumstances, he is bound to be mastered by them.

I am not certain that I mastered them today, but I am pleased that they did not master me.