In Which I Take A Shower & A Minor Miracle Occurs – Sort Of…

This is one of those inconsequential everyday-life kind of posts that talks about nothing of any importance, doesn’t pass on any useful information or set the world to rights. It doesn’t even have a video at the end (sorry) although it does have an interesting afterword. But it might make you smile. Just warning you before you commit valuable time to reading it.

Just now, something happened that changed my whole perspective on a so far gloomy, disappointing and frustrating day.

Last night my weather app had promised sun late morning and we had all sorts of plans for being outside. I wanted to take some photos and video for a friend who could do with some smiles. But I needed sun. And warmth. I can’t cope with the cold. Or the gloom. Or the wet.

For once, it was completely wrong: it was overcast when I got up, 14C and didn’t look like it was going to improve much any time soon.

As I drank my early (for me) morning cup of green tea with jasmine, I half-heartedly checked my blog, emails and social media. Nothing much going on there, everyone was going about their weekend thing with family and friends. Nothing to distract or keep me occupied.

The heavens opened.

I went in the shower. (The hot one where you wash your hair not the icy one outside!)

I was contemplating the next post I wanted to write and musing over the fact that a couple of months ago I was worried I would run out of things to write about but now, I can’t keep up with ideas and events.

I gradually became aware of something small and hard under my foot. I looked down but of course couldn’t see a thing because  after decades of wearing contact lenses, I had only recently discovered you’re not supposed to wear them in the shower! This was all well and good, I wanted to protect my eyes from potential infection but it didn’t help me see spiders nesting in there or what was underfoot or tell the difference between shampoo and conditioner in identical bottles! Have you ever done that, put conditioner on instead of shampoo and had to wash your hair twice? Anyway, at least I knew it wasn’t a contact lens!

My next thought was to check my earrings. How many times had I knocked one off when pulling a t-shirt over my head or wrapping a towel around wet hair then discovering the fact long afterwards and initiating a housewide search for same and banning hoovering for a month? In fact, that had happened recently and for once the search proved futile and I’d had to accept the loss of a precious silver earring back. It was off my favourite everyday studs that I’d worn for many years and goodness knows how many of their backs have been lost and found over those years.

But no, they were both intact. I could only think it was a small cinder or stone, although I couldn’t think how it had got in the shower. I hadn’t walked barefoot outdoors.

So, I struggled to reach my glasses from my dressing-gown pocket, put them on with soapy wet hands and look down as quickly as possibly through quickly fogging lenses.

No, it couldn’t possibly be. We had both looked in the shower tray, my husband had inspected the plughole, I had had several showers since… but yes, there it was, the erstwhile missing silver earring back!

I couldn’t stop laughing. I still have a huge grin on my face. Such a small insignificant event on a miserable Saturday morning changed my whole perspective on the day.

But I should have known not to doubt the universe’s powers of discovery. The number of times I have ‘lost’ a contact lens and given it up for good, yet somehow we always find it – even on the gravel-strewn verge of a busy main road on our way to see my inlaws, even in a dark furniture-cluttered bedroom where my husband found it flicked right into the corner of the carpet by the skirting board, even on our first date when I looked down at my coffee and first one dropped out and then as I leant down to look for it, the other followed suit and we both ended up on our hands and knees looking for contact lenses – or at least, I was dying of embarrassment and wasn’t  looking for anything, I couldn’t see! The one time we didn’t find one until it was too late was when I discovered I’d been walking around with it embedded in the sole of my slipper!

So, that was interesting wasn’t it? Did you smile or just sigh with disappointment in the knowledge that you just wasted a few minutes you’ll never get back?

I for one am still grinning. And it’s still raining.

Ps Just after I published this, I went on Instagram and instantly saw this thought for the day from The Secret:

Now, if the universe could just help me find my tweezers …

Copyright: Chris McGowan