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Carol Spaeth-Bauer | In the Meantime
Slap of reality brings clarity
It's funny how when you look back on a crisis, you see it with different eyes, with wider, clearer eyes.
When I was in Atlanta, Ga., a couple weeks ago with the Mukwonago robotics team, it wasn't until someone came to my hotel room asking for memory cards to download the day's pictures that I realized the spot where I was sitting should have been occupied by my Nikon camera.
It wasn't until then that I realized the bag containing the video camera was sitting across the room from where I last left it, minus the video camera, and that the cash on my bed was gone. It wasn't until my roommate for the trip started looking that she realized her bag was moved also and a little lighter.
It's not until reality slaps you in the face that you take a look at the little hints: the way the hotel room door was closed, the way the room's contents were rearranged, the way an engineer on the team saw the same pizza delivery man who delivered our pizza leave the hotel holding an insulated bag as if it still contained pizza.
Things suddenly come into sharp focus in a painful, mind-numbing rush. All the shoulda, woulda, couldas come too late, and you are left empty. It's funny how when you look back, you can't rewind, you can't change anything, but you see it all so much clearer. And you wonder why you can't go through life with such clarity every day.
It's like watching a movie, and the director has laid out every single piece needed to put the story together, and we don't get it, can't figure it out, until the end. I can still rewind that night in my head and see all the director's details, clues and hints pointing to disaster. Yet the clarity, the clearness didn't surface until the day's fog had been blasted away.
Life does that to you, plays with you, takes you for a ride. If you're sharp, you might catch all the minute details flying past. But even then, you might not see the moment for what it is, for what it will bring, until it's come and gone and you are left with an empty bag.
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Posted Wednesday, Jan. 25 |
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Photo of the Week by Scott Ash:
MANY HATS - Kathy LaShelle from the Town of Merton tries on a handmade hat from Jo's Feltz at the Delafield Winter Market on Sunday, Jan 15. The market is an indoor farmers market and craft fair located at the Delafield Fish Hatchery on the third Sunday of each month through April.
News or Feature Story of the Week by Joe Trovato: Area school districts jump into WEA lawsuit
Design Layout of the Week by Matt Colby: What a difference a day makes
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- Sussex-Menomonee Falls-Pewaukee Relay For Life Kickoff Event Sunday, February 19th 3:00 PM
- Summerstage "Break-A-Leg Gala"
- Pancakes at the House
- Christ the King To Host Chicago Gospel Choir Concert
- All God’s Children Preschool To Hold Family Open House to Preview 2012-13 School Year
- 3 & 4 Pre-K Open Enrollment at St. John's Mukwonago
- Winterfest Gallery
- Habitat for Humanity Welcome New Board Members
- J&J Construction Lake Country Receives Three Awards in Annual Remodeler Competition
- Hamilton Band Boosters hosts Italian dinner Feb. 15
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