Episode #733
February 18, 2023
Propitious knew a lot about luck. He was impulsive. Planning on the fly and dead reckoning
were his typical modus operandi.
One winter day Propitious was playing ice hockey with his friends on the neighborhood lake. They had swept the snow off the ice to create a hockey rink and set traffic cones at both ends as goals.
A long, cross-rink pass came skittering toward Propitious. He skated to an intersection, raised his stick and swung, hitting the puck solidly. The puck flew inches above the ice only to be slapped aside and out of bounds by the goalie.
Propitious kept skating hard, chasing the puck out of bounds toward the middle of the lake. He sped up noticeably as he and the puck raced away from the rink.
“STOP! COME BACK!” yelled his fellow players.
“The ice is thin out there!”
He skated even harder, overtaking the puck. He threw his skates sidewise into a sliding hockey stop. A rooster tail of snow and ice fanned out in front of him. He stopped the puck with his stick. As he slid to a stop, he heard a quiet cracking sound. Propitious smiled and skated the puck back to the rink.
His friends greeted him nonplussed.
“You sure are lucky,” said Alvin.
Naqid said, “That was a pretty risky move.”
“There is no such thing as luck,” said Propitious, slapping the puck over to Alvin. “I have been skating this lake for ten years. You can see where the ice is thin because the snow becomes thin on the surface.”
When Propitious saw the puck deflected by the goalie he had kept skating hard toward an intersection with the puck’s course. He assessed the speed and trajectory and saw that he would intercept the puck just shy of the thinning snow.
His analysis avoided the need for luck. His timing and the cracking of the ice showed that he was lucky after all.
Luck is found on the edges of every plan. It is that area where anticipation falls into the unknown.
Naqid shook his head with incredulity.
Propitious said, “Let’s play.”
He skated into the middle of the rink, eager to receive the inbound pass from Alvin.
PLEASE BUY MY BOOKS:
“Skydivers Know Why Birds Sing” by Ricki T Thues is now available on Amazon.
It is a Love story of Rick and Paula Thues and their 35 years of Skydiving.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
Follow Ricki T Thues on Amazon HERE.
ALSO AVAILABLE:
“Technically Human” by Ricki T Thues, the iMentor, is available on Amazon.
It is a compilation of selected episodes from this bLog which tell the story of Humanity through the eyes of the iMentor.
Click HERE to buy the paperback or Kindle ebook at Amazon.
The ebook version of “Technically Human” is also available on Kobo. Click HERE.
For you Barnes and Noble Nook readers it is available for Nook. Click HERE.
The “Technically Human” ebook is also available on Apple Books . Click HERE.
I’m a planner but I’ll have to give this one a good think, “Luck is found on the edges of every plan. It is that area where anticipation falls into the unknown.”
A lucky turn of phrase if I say so myself.
Would like to leave an icy review but I can’t!
Well done again.
Glad you weren’t cold toward me.
Ho Ho Ho