Punch it Margret

The picture was a couple of winters ago.  That year we had around 154 inches of snow, or so we’ve been told.  I hate snow but I have to admit it was an awesome year.  At the time, I was not working for the Bird House.  I was helping Mr. M deliver mail.  Unfortunately, no amount of snow can stop the mail so we bundled up and left for work.  It was not long before we pulled up to a set of mailbox units.  I jumped out and put the mail into the respective boxes,  jumped back in the warm truck and make the comment of  how pretty this area was.  This is when I made a fatal error.  I asked, “What is up there?”  He says, “Let me show you.”  Mr. M is always excited to show me where he grew up.  So with a kooky smile, we were off.

We have a 4×4 so trudging around in the snow is not that big of a deal unless it is 4 feet high….which is was.  The area of interest was up a very steep hill and back in the forest.  Little did we know that the 4 feet of snow would soon turn into 6 feet. He kept fighting with the snow trying to get further back in the forest until we ran up a snowbank and that was that.  M gets out of the truck to assess the situation. We are stuck on a narrow road with a steep drop off on the passenger side…that would be my side.  Before we got stuck he was attempting to turn a corner so the truck was heading away from the cliff.   He tries pushing the rear of our 2 ton 4 wheel drive truck in a circle so we could drive out.  And as logic would dictate, it did not work.    He then tells me to get behind the wheel.  He says to put it in reverse and give it gas when he says go.  He then walks to the front of the truck and puts his shoulder into the grill and yells go.  I yelled back, “Are you crazy?  I will run over you for sure!”  All I could see was me backing over the edge and taking Mr. M over with me.   He practically screams at me, “JUST Punch it!”  I was instantly upset.  I slammed it into gear and I punched it!  Thank the lord above it did not work because I put it into gear alright, but I put it in DRIVE and he was in front of the truck pushing!  As soon as I realized what I did I felt like I was going to pee my pants.  I could have killed him and I was not going to let that information slip my lips.  I quickly put it in reverse and tried it again.  By now he is looking at me with disgust and wondering how in the world we are going to get out of this situation to finish our mail route.  The rest of the story is a little fuzzy but in the end we did indeed get out of the snowbank and turned around with Mr. M in one piece.

Contrary to what you may be thinking,  I did not do it on purpose just to prove how right I was.  Truly, I was in a daze and not thinking.  Between him pushing with all he had and the icy snow, my inability to run him over , did not cost him his life… this time.

Ruthie

The Power or Oh Goody, Oh Goody… part 1

 This is the story that started everything, as in my blog.  I put it on Facebook back in Jan. 2010 and it was a hit.  I think it did so well because everyone on my Facebook knows  Hubs.  This showed him in a different light.  All my friends are familiar with the public man.Public man is a burly man, a man of very few words, a man who would never want any one to see the human side of him.  He is also a man that has sworn me to never write about him again.   So everyone needs to keep this one on the QT.

Hubs has been waiting on this day since Christmas morning. He was practically giddy with excitement. Did we win the lottery, a new truck in the drive or, please no, not another huge snow? It was none of the above.  Hubs was walking in and out of the house with an excitement that I have rarely heard, more like never heard.   I laid there listening. Soon he popped his head in the bedroom and reports, “The electricity is OUT!”, with the biggest Cheshire  grin that I have ever seen on his face.

To most folks me included, this is horrid no water, lights, and spoiled food; to my husband, it is music to his ears. After years of dealing with power outages, his father gave him a generator for Christmas. It was like opening his present all over again. He finally got to fill it with gas, start it and hooked it up. He kept telling me that the generator could run the whole house. I said no way. But he insisted it could.

As I laid there in bed listening, I heard it start. It was a smooth start, sort of like a Honda motorcycle. I could hear him going in and out of the house all excited and getting everything ready to be hooked up. He was just having way to much fun. To my surprise, the ceiling fan in my bedroom came on! I was shocked. He was right! This was one time I was happy to be wrong. No more nights without lights or sounds of the TV. This is a good thing. I got up to go check it out. The pure delight on his face was worth getting up to see.

As I am watching him plug the refrigerator into one of the extension cords, it hits me, how could the fans in the bedrooms be working when he is pulling extension cords in the house? He did not plug in the generator to the house at all. THE POWER had come back on without our knowledge. Oh no, how should I point this out? I just watched him plugging stuff in. All the while, a giant grin plastered on his face. Finally I ask him, how could the fans be working in the back of the house if we are using extension cords for power?

The gleam in his eyes and the smile on his face…..gone. “You mean we have power?”, he asked.” I thought I heard the frige running when I unplugged it. But I was not sure.” He, slowly, turned the generator off and returned all plugs to their rightful sockets. With his excitement faded and the reality of a day of delivering mail, in the snow without me, he kisses me good bye and says, “Have a good day off.”

Oh well, at least we know it starts!

 

aMusing Mondays: A Wicked Sense of Humor

 

When we moved here years ago I was totally shocked at the size of these birds up here. I thought they were giant crows that were involved in some type of nuclear fall out. I can only guess their weight but I would guesstimate an average of 20 lbs…some larger some smaller but all huge! I was told later on they were Common Ravens. Shoot, there is NOTHING common about those birds as far as I am concerned. In the last few years I have come to believe the Common Raven must have a sense of humor. Last winter, one Raven that hangs out at the top of my backyard Pines got a big chuckle when he witnessed my dogs’ surprise of the first snow of 2010.

Every morning my dogs have a ritual, which consists of, CAN’T WAIT TO GET OUT THE DOOR AND BARK MY BRAINS OUT! Pacing, pacing can’t wait. They run as FAST as they can, down a 45ft porch and jump off the end with an attitude that should scare even the meanest of squirrels! Then turn with a puffed out chest to look at the door to see if anyone was watching. They are proud beasts, my Mutt and Jeff.

This morning was a tad bit different. Can’t wait, Can’t wait! (the same) Ready set GO (the same)….run, run, run (the same)… the little one (7 lbs Jeff) gets to the end of the porch first but things are DIFFERENT! White stuff.  EVERYWHERE! He puts on the brakes right as he gets to the end of the porch…..PLONK! He flew off alright but not in the manner he was accustomed to. Pride was…………GONE.

The BIG one (70+ lb, Mutt) was hot on his trail. There was no way that little one was going to beat her. Her mind quickly changed as she watched him fly then land hard in the snow. She tried with everything she had to stop. Too late, the snow and ice started about 15 ft from the end and she was already in it. BRAKE, BRAKE, BRAKE, you could just see her mind yelling it and her eyes pleading it. She did manage to slow down a little bit before the big finish, which lead to an agonizing slow motion crash. She felt ever step she hit as she was going down. The little one watched at first with horror and moved out of the way before she squished him. Then he appeared to be basking in pure joy of  seeing the big dog epically fail. Both of them got up. No barking, no looking back with pride……..they did their business and came back to their nice warm beds to lick their proverbial wounds.

After witnessing this comic relief, I walked back to the den.  It is then I noticed there was not only the one Raven at the top of the tree, there were now about five or six Ravens clucking and chuckling like little hens. I guess the one at the top called for the others to watch the morning entertainment. Yep, I think the Common Ravens have a wicked sense of humor.

Note: To all concerned, it is 8:10 on Sunday night.  I have this scheduled for publish on Monday .  So far so good. My tummy ache went away, no headache and everyone in the house is doing well.  I think I am in the clear….we are in the clear.    On a serious note,  I really was scared and I do appreciate any prays that were prayed for us.  That was some pretty heavy guilt.  Thank you my friends