Let me state the obvious: I never got around to writing last week’s blog entry. I apologize! I’ve been swamped with mom-life stuff, and although I penciled “blog” on each day on my calendar, I never got around to it.
Ever since Nate got home from college 10 days ago, I’ve felt like I’m herding at least one cat, and maybe more. It doesn’t help that his brother is graduating from high school this week, and we have obligations as a family as a result. While being away at school, he’s gotten used to making his plans and promises without having to check the family calendar!
It’s been raining steadily here for the past few days and is especially soggy and muddy outside. Why is that important to note? Well, today Nate sent me a text message at 10 a.m., which I read at 10:30 a.m. after his brother and sister informed me that I should check my phone. The message was an S.O.S. and it read, “I got stuck.”
While I was doing a morning workout in our home gym, he had gotten into his dad’s 4×4 truck and driven to a huge field down the road to dig up some “hard-to-find” milkweed. (I had assumed he was still asleep.) Don’t worry; he had permission from the city alderman and the developer and his dad!
Anyway, I was knee-deep in cleaning when I got the message. I dropped everything and grabbed a number of keys, texting him that I was on my way.
At first, I thought he’d taken his gold Chrysler Town & Country (from Nana) and gotten that stuck. It has always been my constant fear that he’d get stuck in no-man’s land in rural Mississippi on his weekend forays into the woods. He treats that minivan like it’s a Hummer!
I thought that hubby had taken the truck because it was missing this morning when I took out the mail. So, I grabbed the new Honda Passport’s keys. It has all-wheel drive. I stepped into the garage, and it wasn’t there! I thought, “Oh, no! His dad is going to kill him!”
Then I got another text, which read, “Can you bring my car [minivan]?” He had a lot of plants to transfer. I ran back in the house and grabbed his van keys, still imagining the brand new Passport stuck in the mud!
When I got the field, I saw, with much relief, that it was the old stinky Tacoma in the middle of the field. Thank Goodness!
It took another half an hour for him to trudge back and forth through the tall grass back to his truck to haul his motherload of plants to the van, which I safely parked at the end of a paved driveway. The garbage men who stopped to empty the trashcans were impressed that he had gotten a 4×4 stuck in middle of the field.
You might have thought Nate would have been stressed or at least little on edge. After all, he was soaked to the core and covered with mud and grass from baseball cap to rugged hiking boots. Instead, he was wholeheartedly delighted with his finds. I suggested that he shower outside in the cabana. He only requested that I bring him a couple of granola bars, water, and some clean clothes. He was all smiles.
Another happy ending: his dad was able to get it unstuck in no time at all. Nate didn’t even have it in 4-wheel drive! All hubby could say was, “And just think: I detailed this vehicle a couple of weeks ago believing I could keep it clean for a while!”
