Life in progress

Tag Archives: predictions


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Cows are rarely wrong

Back when I was five years old, I remember being on vacation with my mother in England. On this particular day that so clearly comes to mind, we were driving to the seaside. My uncle, who was driving, told me that it was a good sign that the cows were standing up in the pastures as we drove by.

“Why?” I asked in a perfectly five year old fashion.

“Because when the cows lay down it means it’s going to rain,” he explained.

Since that time I’ve taken predictive cow thing to the next level – to a degree of percentages. So for instance, if three quarters of the cows in a field are standing up, there is a potential for a 25% chance of rain.

So today I was driving to where my son was at camp. It was out in the middle of nowhere and inevitably I passed a field where there were horses and only one cow. It was bright and sunny, but the cow was laying down.

Shit, it’s going to rain, thought I.

When I passed the same cow on my way home, my windshield wipers going as fast as they could, I nodded to the cow.


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What’s in a plan

I remember back in high school being asked where I thought I’d be and what I could imagine I’d be doing with my life in the year 2000. There was no way I could have predicted that I’d be living in the province of Quebec by that time but I was. I remember thinking I’ll have 3 kids because that’s what my mother says my hand is telling me – not palm reading exactly but counting the small lines in between the bigger creases in your fist where your baby finger meets your hand. Try it. Is it right? Somehow I doubt it if you’ve got five or more children. But I digress.

My thought for today is that speculation is really useless. Take the bombing in Boston for instance. There, right there, is proof that no one can predict what might happen in the next few seconds, let alone the next 20 years. (Yes, I’m dating myself.)

Having said that, all three of my children were born in the province of Quebec, and yes, they were all born by the end of 2000. But how many things might have happened to change that in the years between?

Do you ever think about what you’ll be doing in 20 years? I suggest you check your fist…

fist