Monday, February 1, 2010


Laughing Later

Part Two


.....What if he didn’t show up. What if he couldn’t fix the car. What if he turned out to be a homicidal maniac who intended to eat us for dinner. The dogs were quiet. They knew this was serious......


Finally, through the darkness, we saw lights coming down from the road. A rickety, rackety pick-up truck pulled up beside us and a wizened little walnut of a man climbed out. The Songwriter began to explain our situation and received not a word in reply. The car hood was opened and the walnut man disappeared inside. Quite a lot of noise began to flow from within the recesses of the car, rattles and thumps punctuated by the occasional unintelligible swear. Finally the strange little fellow crawled out holding up something attached to a wire that, at least to my eyes, looked fairly important, and drawled, “Well. You were gonna lose this anyway”.


Suffice it to say, the car could not be repaired. At least not this night, and at least not by this man. So. Here we were, over two hours from home, with two hungry dogs, in the middle of nowhere. And did I mention, it was our wedding anniversary?


It was apparent that this mechanical wizard intended to trot up the hill to home without another thought directed our way, so the Songwriter hurriedly asked him if he knew of someone who could perhaps tow us back to the city. He did, and we called he gentleman immediately, who promised to come pick us up as soon as he finished his dinner. About thirty long, worrisome minutes later, a behemoth of a truck could be heard thundering down the drive and we four looked out through our steamed -up windows to see the largest form of transport we could possibly imagine. As I stared at this thing, it dawned on me that, although it was indeed designed to haul large vehicles to their destinations with no small amount of fanfare, the actual room for people was fairly standard and, frankly, fairly small. Needless to say, it would never accommodate three adults and two large furry dogs. Naturally the driver assumed that the dogs would remain in the car - high up in the air, chained and bolted to the truck, for two plus hours, down a superhighway, in the cold, in the dark, alone.

Shall I give you just a few seconds to imagine what I said to that?

I calmly folded my arms.


Outside my closed car window, there commenced a lot of talk back and forth about what was allowed and what was not. Something, I think, was said about what was safe and what was not. I know I heard the words, “risk”, and “illegal”, maybe even the phrase, “bodily harm”. I’m certain The Songwriter said a few choice words about stubbornness being an inherited trait, and something along the lines of “its useless, I’m telling you”. But all these trivial words and phrases simply drifted past my ears like summer breeze off a lily pond. There was absolutely no way I was going to leave Edward and Apple to be hoisted up to the heavens in a tow truck and hauled through the cold night, for two hours, by themselves.


So. Yes, you are right. I stayed with them in the car, letting out feeble little yelps of terror as it was lifted up in the air, higher than I dreamed possible. Those yelps became unmentionable words, shrilly shouted, as I was roughly bounced back down the rutted drive, past the now slightly alarmed bloodhounds, back out on the main road, enroute to the highway. I squealed like a girl with every jolt, till Edward calmly climbed into the front seat, placed his head on my knee and fell asleep. We were higher up than I ever dreamed it possible to be, so high I could look down on the tractor trailer trucks passing by. I was not having fun. But then, I thought... if I were eight years old, this would be the most fabulous experience I would have all year long. So, that’s what I decided to be. For two hours, I pretended I was eight, I pretended I was in a flying ship, I pretended I was on the back of a dragon, I pretended I was seated next to Mr. Toad, along for his infamous Wild Ride - I pretended I was comfortable, I pretended I was warm, I pretended that tonight was not, in fact, my wedding anniversary.


Now of course, as I am writing this two years later, it is obvious that we all returned home safely. The dogs had their dinners, and I had a hot bath and a not so wee dram.

And yes, it was an anniversary to remember.

But laugh about?

Well, maybe just a little.


40 comments:

  1. Oh Pamela, that was absolutely thrillingly riveting! I am grinning from ear to ear, at least that anniversary you will not readily forget.

    In the immortal words of the bard,
    "All's well that ends well!"

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  2. Oh, what a lovely story to tell your grandchildren one day. The anniversary you will never forget.

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  3. That is certainly an anniversary you won't ever forget. I loved it though! The adventure of it all! And I love your storytelling too. But you already know that.

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  4. And I thought we used to have grand adventures...... :)

    Great story and it could only happen to you two.

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  5. I love that you stayed with the dogs! LOVE it!!!!!

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  6. Oh Pamela, what a lovely anniversary story.
    Glad you all made it home safely and yes, a hot bath and little dram would have been much needed.

    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  7. Love it! I picture this story in black and white, some kind of 30's comedy, where you would be played by Katharine Hepburn and your other half is Cary Grant..cheers Katherine

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  8. A sweet and very happy ending Pamela, xv.

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  9. Well Pamela
    I am always told 'it can only happen to you Julie'.. but it seems.. it happens to you too.. the strange.. the ridiculous... the momentarily insane that everyone else thinks is funny... haha and I do... it is true though that with distance it becomes funnier..

    Well you are a true champ!! Staying with Edward & Co...in the freezing cold ... what a brave and loyal girl you are!! ... I loved reading every detail.. take care.. glad you enjoyed the moon!!.. xx Julie

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  10. And that's you and Edward in the photo!? Pretty risque, I must say. Uh, but, being at a stop sign and all, shouldn't your foot be on the brake and the clutch instead of the gas and the clutch?

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  11. oh gosh what an adventure! You certainly won't forget that anniversary! I love that you stayed with the dogs and that Edward looked after you. Good idea to pretend to be 8 as well...

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  12. Dear Pamela, This is amazing and I have so enjoyed reading the story [and today's picture is wonderful].

    I think within this you touch upon a serious note which I can identify with. In times of stress, such as you describe, it is very often helpful to try to put oneself outside of the situation, to remove oneself into another world. The blissful naivety of childhood!!

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  13. O>M>G...this was so very brave of you...I could see you sitting up there..really ..For the love of Edward..you are great!!!

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  14. Well done to Edward and his sense of chivalry.

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  15. What a clever girl you are--toto think of staying with the dogs in the hoisted car. Creative. Brave. Motherly. Funny, too.

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  16. This so so sweet. I would have done the exact same thing. I bet your warm and cozy home never looked quite as good as it did that night upon your arrival.

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  17. Now that my dear is a great story written by a pro! :)

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  18. You got me smiling this morning... and thanks for the sweet notes that you have left me on my little tater bug, he has stole my heart for sure.

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  19. It was certainly something to remember. What a luck that everything went well.
    And this year, it was better and more nice ??

    xo
    Anci

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  20. A true adventure! I found it touching that by falling asleep Edward showed his complete trust in you.
    I love that picture too. It reminds me of the kind of illustration I saw as a child in "Look" and "The Ladies'Home Journal" that my mother read in Belgium to keep her English current. They seemed very exotic to me at the time.

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  21. What an adventure!...It sounds very scary and I'm not sure I could have done it:)

    This did make me start thinking ...what did we do before cell phones?

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  22. delightful story, as always!! it's amazing how many times we can laugh about distressing times -- but only years later!!!!

    ((hugs)) to all of you!

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  23. What a trip.
    Happy anniversary.
    I would never leave
    my dog either.

    yvonne

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  24. ".....a not so wee dram"?? Good grief girl, I would have swigged the entire bottle after that adventure - I mean horrific experience!!!

    You really had me picturing the situation clearly - why oh why are you not writing books? The Songwriter and The Storyteller - no wonder the anniversaries are such fun. Can't wait for the next one.

    Stay warm - did you get snow/sleet this weekend? Do your doggies have snow boots? Hope you can stop by to see my lovely winged garden visitors.

    Hugs - Mary ACROSS THE POND

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  25. Wonderful! Well, that brought a smile to my face, I can tell you.
    You reminded me of THE most hair raising drive I have ever had, coming down from Darjeeling in a jeep, on a back road of hairpin bends, with a driver who clearly had no problem whizzing towards his next reincarnation. I was terrified until my friend said very calmly and philosophically that if we die, we die, so in the meantime we might as well enjoy the experience and the view.
    It worked...!

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  26. Tell me, does it work to pretend your 8 through the rest of ones life, because it sure worked for you to get through a scary stint. I just may have to use that idea. I loved this story Pamela & although I'm sure it was not in the least funny at the time, what a great story you've had the pleasure of writing for us all.

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  27. Good for you to become eight years old and make the adventure just that, an adventure.

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  28. Oh Pamela, I'll bet the tow truck driver dined out on that story for a while, too! You are a good, brave girl; generous and loyal, and you deserve two such loving companions as Edward and Apple, - and the Songwriter as well. I guess the moral of the story has something to do with mind over matter. Thanks for sharing it in your own inimitable fashion.

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  29. Thank you for your comment on my post, it's brilliant.

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  30. What a fabulous story! Thank you so much for sharing and yes, I would have been a tad worried too! Bless, Edward, he's such a poppet :)

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  31. Ewwwww...... that is pretty scary stuff. I think it would take a great deal of imagination and maybe an imediate shot of something strong to get me to ride two hours up in the air. Kudo's to you and I hope that Edward and Apple appreciate just how much they are loved. I probably would've done the same but holy toledo, you were brave.

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  32. Love your story, Pamela - what an anniversary to remember!!! Thanks for sharing - I'm still laughing -
    Judie

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  33. Well I've had a good laugh but I can well imagine it wasn't funny at the time.

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  34. Hello P&E,

    Nice sequel! Not many experience such heights on their anniversary!

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  35. What a story!
    Thank you for your lovely comment on Flavours!

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  36. A true magic carpet ride in the most unmagic of circumstances. Well done!!

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  37. You are a brave and hilarious woman! This is a great story, Pamela. Thanks so much for making it a two-parter!

    Looking forward to reading more adventures soon. xo

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  38. I can picture it all too well! White fur and long blonde hair and every last nerve on end. You are such a terrific storyteller; but I'm sorry that this was nonfiction.

    "not so wee dram" -- now, that made me laugh!

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  39. How funny! Can't blame you for not leaving the dogs all by themselves up there in a swinging vehicle. A great story to remember.

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!