Tuesday, March 22, 2011

All the luck

I feel like the luckiest person in the world today. Actually, it started out with a bang. I was on a six-foot scaffold this morning hanging siding on the back of the house before the sun cleared the eastern horizon.
I stepped back a half step to get a better angle so I could heft the concrete siding plank a little higher. The half step was a half step too many because I stepped off the scaffold and I fell off flat on my back.
The world seemed much clearer in the moments it took for me to fetch my breath, which had escaped to somewhere near the Ionosphere. My poor carpenter who was holding the other end of the plank almost had a heart attack. He jumped down much to fast for a 70 year old.
I started laughing when I realized nothing was broken. If I had fallen a few feet in either direction, I would have landed on things that would have made my life unpleasant.  For the rest of the day I was much more mindful of my movements.
As the work day wound down, it became clear that I had not ordered enough siding. When I called the lumber place, he said they were out and wouldn't have any more until next Monday. This was a little disappointing because I wanted so badly to finish up tomorrow.
The owner of the lumber place is an honest country businessman. I know he needed my business, but he told me where I could find what I needed at one of his competitors. I don't know if he realized it, but he became my building materials provider of choice.
So, I went to the competitor and got the material I needed. Jilda had a few errands so she rode with me.
After we did our errands, we'd started home with 30 pieces of concrete siding on the back of my truck.
Probably 400 pounds of heavy but delicate siding.
As we started up a hill, all the siding slide out of my truck and landed in a neat pile in the middle of the road. Oh crap!!! I exclaimed (the G Rated version).
I put on the hazard lights, and we got out to survey the damage. We weren't sure how we were going to load the siding back on the truck and make it home without getting run down.
All of a sudden, a young guy in a big 'ol pickup pulled up and said, "you need some help buddy?"
We could have hugged his neck.
In less that a three minutes, we had the siding loaded and we pulled the truck safely to the side of the road and strapped everything down.
He wouldn't take any money for helping us, but Jilda tossed some money into his passenger window as he was walking back around to get in his truck.
There are those who would view this day as a bad day, but to me it was a gift. It just proves to me that things sometimes happen -- but when you step back and take the long view, it was just a small bump in the road.
Tomorrow is the 59th birthday of my lovely spouse Jilda. Feel free to pop over to her blog and wish her a happy birthday.
I hope you all have a remarkable Wednesday.

6 comments:

  1. Anonymous2:45 AM

    What a Day! Thank God that you weren't injured. and that you had help with the siding.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh dear! thank heavens you're okay!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sounds exactly like something that would happen to Bruce and I. Glad you're ok after that fall. Wow. I wrote a special post for Jilda today! Be sure to check it out. I emailed her to let her know.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank goodness you are ok!!! Dear oh dear!!! I think the kindness shown by the people around you on your very tough day is just lovely!!!

    Happy Birthday to Jilda!! Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Why is it that we always want to give people money when they do a kindness for us?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Actually it sounds like a day to be thankful for. Thankful that all turned out well! Love Di ♥

    ReplyDelete

Please consider sharing

Email Signup Form

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required