As mentioned in this month’s newsletter, Susan had a close call with a terrible accident and was rescued by her “instant angel.” Here is the story from Life Is Huge!:
Many years ago, I decided to travel from New York City, which was my home at the time, to attend a week-long workshop at Esalen Institute, a Spiritual center located a few hours drive from San Francisco in Big Sur, California. With great excitement about the upcoming week, I flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and began my drive south to the magnificent Highway 1 which runs along the California coast.
I wasn’t in the car any longer than ten minutes when the skies darkened and the rains came down fast and furious. It was a difficult drive, to say the least, but my mind kept focusing on the wonderful workshop I would soon be attending.
When I finally arrived in an area that I knew was just about eleven miles north of Esalen, I thought to myself, “It won’t be too long now.” So you can imagine my disappointment to see a barrier in the road as I drove a little further that said “ROAD CLOSED…FLOODING AHEAD”. What a blow! Since it was the only road that leads to Eslalen, I knew I wasn’t going to get to the beginning of my workshop in time.
It’s then that I made a downright stupid decision. I said to myself, “The road’s probably not too bad. They’re just being overly cautious.” I then proceeded to go around the warning signs and continued on my way. Stupid, indeed! As I drove, I noticed I was the only car on the road—for an obvious reason: All the other drivers were wise enough to obey the “ROAD CLOSED” sign!
For those of you who’ve never driven the splendid Highway 1, let me explain that, in the area of Big Sur, it is a twisting road with many turns that, at the time, had no guard rails to stop one from accidentally hurtling down to the cliffs and the ocean below. So you can understand why I began to feel a bit uneasy as I surveyed what I had gotten myself into. But I just kept driving.
Suddenly I was aware of a strange sensation. Instead of moving forward, I could feel the car being lifted as it slowly began “floating” toward the edge of the cliff. What had looked just like the road ahead was actually a big crevice in the road filled with water! In a strangely calm state of mind, I thought to myself, “This is the end! I’m going over the cliff!” I tried opening the door but with no luck; the water was so high that it was blocking the door. I was trapped.
And then it happened. At that very critical moment in time, a highway patrol tow truck rounded the corner. The driver immediately saw what was happening, quickly ran out of the truck, attached a rope to my car, and pulled me and the car to safety…thereby saving my life. What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that Highway 1 stretches for miles and miles and the likelihood of that tow truck coming around the corner just as I needed it was remote, to put it mildly. In fact, I put it in the category of “Miracle”…and I put the tow truck driver in the category of “Instant Angel.”
I might add that he was an Instant Angel who couldn’t stop cursing at me, calling me an idiot for disregarding the sign, and telling me if I didn’t go back to the area behind the warning signs and stay there until it was safe to proceed, he would have me arrested and thrown in jail! (Instant Angels come in all forms.) I meekly apologized, sheepishly thanked him, and headed back wondering how I could have been so reckless. An important lesson learned: When it comes to personal safety, there are times to “Feel the Fear…and DON’T Do It Anyway!”