Day two of torrential downpours after what was essentially weeks with no rain.
Again, I woke to the dark gloomy skies, and a trio of dogs whining to go out. They had to go, but at the same time, they had no interest in stepping across the threshold into the rain. Only Cybil (the wise old Labrador) knew that she had no real choice in the matter. She went easily into the spray, and the others reluctantly followed suit.
It wasn’t just rainy and dark, it was a cold morning. Not quite cold enough to turn on the heat, but definitely cold enough to toss on a light sweater and long pants.
Unfortunately, today was not a lazy Sunday wherein I could just lounge around without a care in the world. No, today was a Monday. And as often happens on a Monday, someone missed the school bus, making me the substitute driver. One of my least favorite things to do on any day, let alone a Monday, is to battle the traffic at the high school.
I tried to grab an extra hour of sleep when I came back, but that never seems to work out as planned. I managed to grab a few minutes, here and there, in between a giant paw to my forehead, and several toxic dog farts that could have awakened the dead!
Most of the day was uneventful, as many a Monday can be. I tried to get a little housework done, took the puppy to the vet for his weekly weigh in (he’s tipping the scales at just under 77lbs) and managed to squeeze in a little writing for good measure.
I really need to devote more time to the writing, especially with two unfinished books in the works, and one that could use a little editing. Motivation, people…that’s what I need!
The day seemed to clear up somewhere around the middle and it even warmed up to the point where shorts and t-shirts were required. I did a quick change and back out to run errands I went.
The shorts and t-shirts decision was a bit premature. When I came back, it was cold and raining again. It was getting heavy, so I made a mad dash to the house just in time to miss the overturned buckets coming down from the sky…and the flashes of lightning, and deafening claps of thunder.
Ordinarily, I would have been delighted to sit in the house and listen to the sound of the storm, but I was supposed to meet Mike for wings (yes…I know…we need to stop eating the damn wings! After tonight, we probably will.) I knew he would be waiting for me, but I was hesitant to leave the house with the storm raging outside.
As if someone up there was listening to my thoughts, the rain slowed to a trickle, and I made a fresh mad dash to the Land Rover to meet Mike at the Olde Towne Tavern to see if they could replicate the perfect wings yet again.
FYI…they couldn’t. Not tonight at least.
After eating our mediocre wings, we were set to go our separate ways. He was going back home, and I was going to pick up the girls from a friend’s house.
I have decided to be thankful for three things.
1) We were only a few miles from home.
2) Mike was directly behind me.
And
3) It wasn’t raining anymore.
The Land Rover ceased to function as I was driving out of the parking lot.
At first, I thought it just stalled. I cranked it again, gave it some gas and it started up again only to stall out after a few feet. I quickly alerted Mike to my dilemma, and he pulled up behind me while I tried again. Finally, he shooed me out of the driver’s seat to drive it himself. I had surely done something wrong to cause the problem.
A few minutes later, we were calling a tow truck.
There is nothing like calling a tow truck on a wet and dreary Monday to put a cap on your night.
Unfortunately for Mike, I still had to retrieve at least one of the girls from where she was, which left him waiting in the dead Land Rover for the tow truck driver to arrive.
The thirty minute wait for a tow turned into an hour, and Mike was a real trooper to have endured it alone. I can add that to my list of things to be thankful for, because I’m fairly certain the flurry of obscenities flying around the inside of the darkened Land Rover would have shocked even me!
The funniest…if you can call it funny…perhaps you would call it the most ironic thing was, after he paid the tow truck driver the ninety dollars to drag the thing just over two miles to our house, Mike decided he would give the Land Rover one last go, and he cranked up the engine. It drove right up the driveway to where it is currently parked. No tow necessary, it would seem.
Who knew?
I guess it’s true what they say…when it rains, it pours. Only sometimes it’s raining money…but someone else is getting all wet.
Until the next time…we’ll be waiting on the Land Rover manual to arrive in the mail!