Did you ever have one of those days? Maybe your car wouldn’t start or you slid into a ditch or you lost your phone. Some days are like that. Today was one of those days. One of those days when all three of those things happened to me…and more! But everything turned out just fine at the end of the day. Here’s how it went down.
Two weeks ago we got a little car, a used Honda Civic. For the last three years our family of 12 has had one vehicle – a giant full-size van. With four teenagers in the house (three of them now driving) it was time for another vehicle. The Civic has been great but the alternator just died on it so it was at the mechanic and we were going to pick it up today. So my plan was to drive the big van into town with my oldest daughter, Annabelle, and pick up the good-as-new car. We also had a decent amount of snow overnight which will become relevant at the ditch part of the story.
I went out early to warm up the van, brush the snow off, and scrape the windshield. Don’t be fooled! I don’t always do such preparatory things. Sometimes I just crouch down in the driver’s seat and look through the bottom inch of the windshield where the defrost fan is really making an impact. But the van would not start. I could just boost it with the newish car. Oh ya. Picking up the car was on today’s to-do list. But I own a small tractor which has a battery and I needed it to plow the driveway anyways. Boom! Van started via tractor boost.
We drove into town and I dropped Annabelle off at work. The plan was to pick her up at lunch and go get the car. That plan was in place but she wanted to go for a little drive first so she could eat her lunch before getting the car. We drove just outside of town to the cemetery (It’s a very nice place to eat your lunch. People are dying to go there.) Unsure of how plowed the cemetery was I commented to Annabelle, “We should probably turn around. I don’t want to get stuck in there.” (Not yet, anyways.) Being the cautious and not-aggressive driver that I am, I slowly backed up to turn around in a dirt driveway close by. But even closer than the driveway, under a foot of snow that looked like the driveway, was a lovely ditch which I promptly backed down into. When I realized what was happening I really floored it to get some momentum and fly out of the ditch. Only I didn’t. My tires spun really fast in the deep snow and we went exactly nowhere. Actually, we did sink down into the snow a bit more. That’s almost like progress.
I called my good friends at the Auto Club for a tow. I’ve got to know them pretty good over the years. They must have been really busy with bad drivers in ditches because I was put on hold. Annabelle and I began to walk back into town while I listened to the inspiring hold music. Just then, a jolly old elf in a 4-wheel drive truck pulled up! “You need a pull? I saw you get stuck over there.” A Christmas miracle! Before you could say, “There’s a lot of bad drivers out there,” he had pulled us out of the ditch. We thanked the Christmas angel and hit the road.
Driving Annabelle back to work, I asked her if she had my phone. She did not. You’ll have to come back next time to find out where my phone went. Annabelle and I made a good memory and she even took a picture of us stuck in the ditch. Thanks, daughter. Take some time to be with your little children or your grown-up children or your grandchildren this Christmas season. It’s almost here and time flies! Make every moment count! Even the ditchy ones!
Jason Weening mostly avoids ditches with his 10 kids and one wife. There might be time to get dad or grandpa his book for Christmas on Amazon: “Yes, Dear…I’m Watching Them”