The Detour

     It was the beginning of what was supposed to be a perfectly brilliant Spring day.  Although the weather was unseasonably cooler than normal the bright sun permeated everywhere, a gleeful reminder that the relics of old man winter were indeed a thing of the past.  Our sole mission for the day, enjoy a leisurely lunch at Woodland Restaurant (a neighborhood favorite, famous for their pizza) and a stroll along the boardwalk afterwards.  Carefree we jubilantly set out on our way to enjoy the promising day.  Our drive was relatively smooth until about a quarter of the way to our destination.  Then, as we turned onto de la Verendrye boulevard, a relatively busy thoroughfare stretching from the city of Lasalle to Verdun, without warning or any time to maneuver an escape route for that matter, we felt an enormous bump as we forcefully rolled through an unforgiving and obviously unforeseen pothole.  The damage was done and clearly evident, as confirmed by the continuous little clank chiming through the wheel as it rotated.
     Luckily, we were close to the Stephens Bridge turn-off, and ended up on a relatively quiet street where we could survey the damage.  Upon perusing the front right-side perimeter of the car, we viewed the dismal confirmation of what we already knew – we had a flat tire and it had quite the gash in it too!  After several minutes of mulling over and contemplating our options it was decided our best course of action was to take the car to a nearby garage, one I had been to previously when I had my car and lived in Verdun.  It was quite a while since I had my car, so the garage I had thought of was no longer there.  Its memory replaced by a new development of yet another bunch of city-squared brick condos. Shortly after though we came upon another garage (Garage Martin Jacques - 4798 Bannantyne).   The gentleman there said he could work on the flat, but not until after lunch.  (He didn’t have a replacement match but fortunately for us we had a spare tire in the trunk).
     With this relief under our belt we could now relax and set out to enjoy the day ahead of us once again.  We were in perfect walking distance to the restaurant, so we took the opportunity to stroll along, unhurried (and unbothered), enjoying some of the neighborhood sights and sounds, even sharing a few laughs about our little misadventure, now that the “incident” was well behind us.  Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were seated at a lovely table in the middle, where we enjoyed the infamous “Woodland’s special” pizza (garnished with bacon and caramelized onions to boot) and chef’s salad with a light and creamy, somewhat lemony colored dressing.  To top it off, we indulged in a decadent multi-layered piece of chocolate cake (la pièce de resistance) and coffee.  We then sauntered along the boardwalk and enjoyed views of the gentle, rippling river and the widespread greenspace surrounding us, vibrant with the sounds of Spring.  People walking, birds lulling - life after the long winter alive and blooming again.
     As we walked back to pick up the car, we took in the distinct architecture of several houses, and even had the chance to stop at the local fruit store (Tondreau) on Verdun and Osborne - a shop reminiscent of one you might find during a jaunt to the countryside - and picked up a few goodies.  Something we most-surely would not have done had we been confined to the comforts of the car.
     As we got closer to the garage, I began wondering just how much this unfortunate little mishap might cost, especially because my friend had a pretty nice car.  And also, because sadly some garages are known to jack up the prices predominantly when you’re in a jam. Upon arrival at the garage cash we were pleasantly surprised to discover the bill came to a grand total of $15.00.  Yep, a beautiful day despite a little adversity, and a flat tire well-repaired for merely nothing.  Not only a great ending to a day starting with so much promise despite a little upset along the way, but also a great reminder of how often we get to choose what to do with the lemons life inevitably throws at us from time to time.  And that there is still a lot of good out there if we choose to find it.

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