01:19 - 17.10.06
Thought provoking
Ms Kitty was at the window when I woke up this morning. Something drew me over to see what it was that interested her. Snow - that's what. Not the nice, light picture postcard version; more the "dashing through the snow" type. Guess it's a good thing I got my boots out and stretched them the other night. It might also explain why I had brain freeze last night - couldn't think straight at all. Too much to absorb then reflect back in any coherent manner.
It was really cool in the house when I first got out of bed. Switched on a little heat, because my youngest had the day off and the cats looked as though they were missing those afternoons when the temperatures were in the 90's F/+30 C. I checked my email to see if there was anything I had to respond to before I went out for my meeting. Just one response from my Member of Parliament's office letting me know that they would respond to their take on the data I'd sent them as soon as was possible. One of the tasks yesterday was to provide all the active political parties and our elected representative with updates on the demographic and geographic work we are concentrating on right now. Where reasonable, we are asked to consider their opinions and suggestions when finishing up with our decisions on how to proceed. Fine by me - fresh perspectives are always welcome. Reduces the problems at the end of the exercise too. That's the worst time to find one has to shift gears or has missed a piece of the puzzle. It's also a bit of a heads up for the political parties that they should get their engines running too.
No urgent communications meant I went on with digging out proper light winter gear for my trip two communities over for my meeting. Mostly my only concession to the weather was those boots and tights. My -20 C tights that is. You see, that way I can wear layers elsewhere and a lighter coat. Getting used to being colder is smarter than trying to stay as warm as during summer to my way of thinking. Not only that, it burns off a few more calories. I did pack a headband should the wind pick up, but that didn't happen. My hair was soaked by the time I'd made the 45 minute walk though.
I had prepared a couple of packages the night before to be mailed to some of the staff I have just recruited as part of my assignment. Their training materials and payroll information. Usually the two together are a reasonable incentive to buckle down and start getting their responsibilities covered. The post office was on the way, so I ducked in there and was back out within 5 minutes continuing my journey.
I had noticed traffic barriers and a city waterworks truck blocking the southbound lane of the major road I was walking down just before entering the post office. What seemed odd was that there was no evidence of a water main break anywhere within sight. I was beginning to wonder if there was such a big gusher further south that they were making very sure that no one got within a mile of it. Did it mean that I might have to take a detour too? I had allowed myself extra time, because I wasn't certain how well I would fare wearing those boots after more than a years' break. You see, they have a reasonably high heel and my sandals are flats of course. As it turned out, the boots were extremely comfortable and given the walking conditions, much safer. Slippery when wet(snowy), that is.
At that point, it began to feel a bit like the Twilight Zone from the old sixties TV series. You know the stories I'm talking about? The ones where the protagonist finds themselves on a main, heavily travelled street in a major city, yet there isn't a single vehicle or person anywhere in sight? That's what I was encountering. I was beginning to wonder if the next scene that usually unfolded - the one where the hero finds that they have been sucked into some bizarre parallel dimension - was about to be played out. If it wasn't for the fact that I love mysteries, I think I would have turned back and called the meeting off. Since there was no traffic, there wasn't even the possibility of finding a bus or cab to detour around the deserted scene, you see. Walking that detour - if I could figure out what I was detouring around - would have meant the likelihood of me coming close to making that meeting on time was zero. And it was cold.
Two thirds of the way through that first community, the answer to the empty street became obvious. Police vehicles all around the one intersection and an eerie silence. Still no other vehicles other than those being detoured a street way and no pedestrians other than me. There was an unmarked van on the one parking lot, where the back door was open revealing stretchers. I could see cars that had obviously been involved in a crash, but absolutely no passengers. When I got home, I found out the crash had happened over three hours earlier. The staff who were in the van were sitting quietly, just waiting. I was wondering if they were there to take care of any of the policemen on site, in case they had a stress reaction to what they had to deal with. No other purpose made any sense to me. In any other accident scene I've passed, there is rarely much of a break in the taffic around it. The complete sealing off of the area and the number of officers combing the scene and taking photos from every possible angle, told me that it was a fatality accident for certain. Given the state of the one vehicle rammed in to a concrete barrier in the mall parking lot and the huge truck all smashed in, sitting on the median the question was: just how many people had lost their lives.
The whole of the intersection and all around the crosswalk was taped off in that yellow "do not enter" crime scene tape and it was obvious that the police meant that no one was to interfere with their investigation. I wondered if the one or two officers who glanced my way were going to tell me to turn back. I gingerly picked my way around the vehicles and the tape, but no one said anything to me, although the occupants of that unmarked van watched me pass with that air of needing to see something not related to their job for just a moment's diversion from their tasks. One of the moms I had volunteered with for years was married to a policeman - actually several of the moms were - but the one with whom I was a good friend would sometimes call at odd hours of the day. We would just visit or walk or go shopping at those times, because sometimes she knew her hubby was in dangerous circumstances at that moment and she needed not to be alone with her thoughts. Tough on the families of the police officers too. Sometimes I don't know how they cope with it day after day. Memories of those times and our discussions filled my mind until I reached the coffee shop where my new tech was waiting to meet with me.
We chatted for about 45 minutes about his training session in Ottawa. He and his wife had stayed a bit longer, so that they could have an extended visit with her family. It sounded as though they had had a great time. He was content with what had been presented to him, but was wanting clarification about the staffing and dynamics in our office during the election. I think he was trying to get his head around the reporting and supervision structure. As much as possible, I flatten that so that although there is a leader who makes final decisions, the team drives most of the day to day work by consensus. The inter-relationship of the various teams and the way they have to morph as a unit - or two - almost weekly to address different demands (wear different hats) is a little more difficult to explain, since that tends to change somewhat each event as well. That's why the words self-starter, flexible, mature and minimal supervision, all figure prominently in the description of the people I try to find to hire. I also needed to explain that we don't draw our staff from traditional labour pools, because most of those workers can't drop everything for a six week contract with no benefits other than an adrenaline rush for that period of time. He had a fairly high position in the other industry I work in, but he is also very active as a volunteer for his church. I think he was realizing that the dynamics in our office were much closer to that form of endeavour, than a traditional business office. He offered to drive me home when he realized that I was planning to walk back the way I had come. I was guessing that that road was still closed. I explained that I was using the walking as part of my exercise program. He was comfortable with my request that he not tempt me to dump my fitness goals for the day.
As I has suspected, the police were still working away at their tasks, although now there were other pedestrians and workers from the mall going about their daily business too. One gentleman was negotiating with one of the officers over how he was to get his vehicle out of his driveway, given that it had been part of the accident scene that had been taped off. One could tell that the officer was struggling with a lot of emotions that he didn't want to deal with at the moment and was trying to be patient and polite with that fellow civilian's needs as well. The trip home took a bit longer, because I had forgotten to eat before I left home and the half cup of coffee I had at the coffee shop just didn't provide enough fuel to be getting on with. At that point in time, I was just being grateful that I was alive on such a pretty day and that I was able to walk freely. Having worked in rehabilitation at one of our major hospitals, I have a very good idea of what the survivors of that crash are likely facing for the next year or two. Somedays it doesn't take a lot to remember how lucky you are.
Got home, cuddled the cats, spent time chatting with my youngest as he made his first attempt at baking a pie from scratch - lemon meringue. Watched The Little Princess with Shirley Temple - one of my favorite movies when I was growing up. My son was wondering why the story line, so I explained that it echoed the audiences' recent memories of WW II. Given he knows about my cousin's husband and the silence from her telling us that his injuries are probably pretty bad, he got the gist of explanation very quickly. He winced a bit and went on with his culinary experiment, obviously deep in thought. I went on watching that movie, seeing it with fresh eyes as result too. Housework and election work didn't seem as onerous somehow after the day as it unfolded. Time for bed now - another meeting tomorrow morning.
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