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Accident inspires book

After a near-death experience on the Victor Harbor Road four years ago, Adelaide man Dave Bell decided to make his life count by putting together a book to help people appreciate what they have.

On October 12 2006, Dave and a friend were travelling to Victor Harbor to catch some early morning waves. As they approached Mount Compass, a huge pine tree on the roadside ahead dropped a large branch onto the power line in front of them, bringing it down.

A truck travelling towards them hit the power line, snapped it and sent one end hurtling back towards them at breakneck speed. It hit the windscreen on Dave's side just below eye level. Dave described the sound on impact like "an exploding bomb". The windscreen partially shattered, sending fine shards of glass into their faces.

Badly shaken, but very lucky to have escaped serious injury, Dave sat down by the side of the road to ponder his brush with death. Dave realised life is unpredictable, even though we all try so hard to control everything.

“Suddenly, I understood the truth of the old saying 'don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today' because tomorrow may never come,” Dave said. “I had been given a wake-up call.”

The following day, after some reflection, Dave began making some of the difficult decisions he had been postponing for a while. One of them was to work full time on a book he had already started some time ago, even though it meant taking 'the road less travelled'. “I had been half-heartedly gathering photographs and writing the book with the intent of publishing it one day when I was involved in the accident that changed my priorities instantly,” Dave said. “It gave me a real sense of urgency to finish the work.”

Produced in collaboration with photographer, nature lover and landscaper James Morcom, The Gardener's Guide to Growing Money Trees is the first of a series of coffee table books by author, share trader and garden designer Dave. It combines his deep love of nature and a lifelong fascination with money, business and what we learn along the way with witty insights into money, love and life. “This book is about things that are more important than money,” Dave said.

Article reproduced courtesy of The Victor Harbor Times