I think misfortunes (minor, sad things that happen) either belong in the category of ‘Unavoidable’ or the category ‘You only have yourself to blame.’ Some misfortunes are manmade and some just seem inevitable.
It was inevitable that after a while the caravan was going to look not so new. Wear and tear takes its toll on us all and inanimate items also suffer. Especially if they are used day after day for two and a half years. Blinds unravel, oven knobs come off, cupboard latches and door fly screens break. These minor, sad things are unavoidable.
However when Peter misjudged the entrance to our friend’s driveway and scratched our very new caravan down the side I really felt this misfortune was in the category ‘You only have yourself to blame.’ However I did not say this and to my credit I quietly commented ‘Not to worry. It was going to happen sometime.’ Maybe then this misfortune really fits in the ‘Unavoidable category’.
There have been some misfortunes that have occurred which I wish fitted in the ‘Unavoidable category’ but unfortunately they are securely in the ‘You only have yourself to blame’ column. Like when I forgot to count to four and only wound up three caravan legs. It felt like the whole campground was alerted to this fact as many faces turned our way when a loud scraping sound was heard. The door has been left open once as we drove off, the skylights have not been closed at times and cupboard ingredients have strewn themselves around as we have driven down the road. We found out through experience which items needed velcroed to shelves.
Luckily mishaps initiate learning.We no longer feel like caravan novices and we no longer act like them. Well if we do it is only occasionally and really we have not added to the scars on the side of the caravan for a while.