Busy, busy, busy!

Okay - lots happening here.  John has been in rehearsals for his orchestra.  They had their 20th Anniversary Concert on Saturday night.  It was wonderful.  The house was sold out and there was a party afterwards for those who could stay. 

He plays four or five concerts each year with this orchestra and has again accepted the invitation to play in the university orchestra for their graduation concert in October - that's a lot more rehearsals...that's in between working up in Auckland five days a week -  lots of motorway driving.

Me?  About ten days ago I was driving up the motorway at 6:15 on my way to Auckland.  I don't like leaving that early but the traffic is now getting very heavy and if I don't leave early, I end up spending as much as ninety minutes on a trip that usually takes me forty-five.

It was dark, the traffic was moving and it wasn't raining.  I had only been driving for a few minutes when I heard a bang.  I wasn't able to identify what it was but it didn't seem to be much.  I kept driving ahead  and checked my rear-view mirror.  I was startled by what I saw in it.  Cars seemed to slowing down behind me - what for?

I decided to pull over - maybe one of my tyres had blown, maybe there was something on the motorway that others wanted to avoid......

A ute pulled over behind me and I started to get out of the passenger side of the car to see what was wrong.  The young guy started walking towards me and said, "I'm sorry.  I hit your van.  I fell asleep at the wheel.  I think I have been working too hard."

I was stunned and grateful.  He seemed to be honest.  He helped me start my car and offered to wait until the AA came if I thought they were needed for a tow. 

All things considered, it was a clean accident.  We were both able to drive away.   He has insurance and was very willing to accept responsibility, etc...  He works up in town for his father who owns a demolition business and was on his way to do a job.

He told me that he had fallen asleep at the wheel, side swiped my car, corrected to the right and hit the median barrier (good thing that was there) and then tried to correct again - causing the cars behind him to slow down. 

We were both so very lucky that nothing else happened. 

A few days ago I was telling a friend about the accident.  Everyone in town has seen the courtesy car in our drive way - or me driving it in town - which is an announcement that something has happened....  When my friend asked about the red station wagon in my driveway, I started to describe the accident and who had done it, she said she knew the  family - in this country/town it seems that someone always knows someone, somehow - she asked me if the fellow's last name was Ward - yes, I told her he gave me his card - I thought maybe he owned the business.  She said he was the owner's son and then she told me some interesting information.

Ward Demolition were the first-responders from the North Island when the big earthquake happened in Christchurch two years ago.  The guy who hit my car and his father went to Christchurch and worked at the recovery of the  CTV Building that had collapsed killing 180 people. 

I felt like our Guardian Angels were working overtime for us - and I am grateful.  A few days later I read in the paper about an accident very similar to mine and the car hit had ended up flipped over in a ditch along the motorway -

To make things even more exciting, I got a new cell phone - it is just deluxe.  Between the courtesy car that I am not familiar with, John's rehearsal schedule and this new phone - it's been interesting.