bad luck

My day felt a bit like the tale from one of our favorite books, Zen Shorts. It's the story of "The Farmer's Luck."

'There was once an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day, his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. "Such bad luck," they said sympathetically. "Maybe," the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two other wild horses. "Such good luck!" the neighbors exclaimed. "Maybe," replied the farmer. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown off, and broke his leg. Again, the neighbors came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. "Such bad luck," they said. "Maybe," answered the farmer. The day after that, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army to fight in a war. Seeing that the son's leg was broken, they passed him by. "Such good luck!" cried the neighbors. "Maybe," said the farmer.'

Today my neighbor came over and invited Canon to go with her family to the Lazy 5 Ranch. "Such good luck," I thought. I waved Canon off and then Elly and I busied ourselves with a multitude of errands that are 200 times easier with just one child. Canon had to be carried in the door when they returned home because she had sprained or possible broken her ankle. "Such bad luck." I called my best friend/medical expert; she suggested we go ahead and get an x-ray. Our pediatrician agreed. After a quick trip to the hospital, we found out her ankle is just sprained. The way I see it, my little story is due for good luck next. I think my good fortune will be Canon propping her foot on the couch tomorrow and watching some movies....and I'll be able to clean my house.

(And I'm only being flippant because Canon is totally fine. She can't put any weight on her foot yet, but she is still as crazy as ever. It's just that now instead of running all over the place, she rolls. Seriously...she's one tough cookie.)