Good Grief! or What Life Teaches Us

Good grief. When life goes south, does it have to do it all at once? So it was with my life last week. That’s when a water pipe blew up and an old tree fell down. It’s a wonder I didn’t do the same. Went to bed Wednesday night, happy with life, suspecting nothing but a soaking rain, cooler temperatures and a good night’s sleep. When I woke up in the morning I found two new life adventures. Well, not really new. My house is an old house, and it, like many of its age, has plumbing problems. As I prepared for the day in the bathroom I heard that telltale splish-splash from down under. Oops. Another water pipe gone bad. There are several things you need in this world. I figure rural residents need to count among their friends three of the good guys. That’s a good mechanic, a good veterinarian, and a good plumber. I called my plumber. They know me well. All I have to do is say, “This is Sally,” and they instantly figure out where I live and what they will have to be doing. They really are good guys. I’ve got them on my cell phone’s speed dial list. But it was still a bit early. I don’t call and I don’t want to receive calls before 8 a.m. So I made the coffee and stared out the window, counting down the minutes till I could push the speed dial button.

Uh, wait a minute. What is that outside my window? That wasn’t there before. What!?! It was a big limb. I scrambled outside. Good grief times two! A whole dang tree was laying there, just outside my window. I said out loud, “Are you kidding me?” Must have thought I should quiz Mother Nature about this new development. I got no answer of course. But yep. Whole tree. Right outside my window. I told friends that it must have been by the Grace of God that tree did not land on my roof. And it’s not a little tree. It’s a big tree. How did this happen, I wondered. Was it that soaking rain had loosened its roots? Did a gust of wind topple my tree? Why hadn’t I heard it fall? Good grief. What was I gonna do now. There’s a chain saw somewhere in my storage shed. Got it after one of our ice storms. But I’d never used it. In fact, the last time Son tried to turn it on, or pull its rope, or whatever you do to start a chain saw, it wouldn’t start. He advised me to take it to the hardware store where a new spark plug could be installed. OK. But what do I do after that. I am not a seasoned, experienced chain saw user. And Son’s a long way off in another state. Later that day I showed Darling Daughter the downed tree. She might have said something more than “Good grief.”

At my age, I have finally realized that it does no good to worry and fret. First things first, and that was to stop that leak under my house. Yes, those wonderful plumbers were right there when called, and took control of the broken pipe, successfully stopping the under-house flood. And I decided that dang tree was just gonna have to lay there until I figured out what to do about it, and that might take a while because I have no tree surgeons on my speed dial list. I may have to change that.

But the funny thing was that (or perhaps as another one of life’s lessons) as I complained to Darling Daughter and Granddaughter, they had stories to tell too. Daughter’s pickup has refused to start, three times in a row now, no matter what her fabulous mechanic can do. The Granddaughter told her tale. She related, “All summer the driver’s side window (in her old but faithful vehicle) will not go down. Not even on the hottest day. Then today when it’s cooler, it went down all by itself. And now it wants to stay down. It won’t go back up. But that’s OK.  At least we can go through the drive-through windows now.”

I like that attitude. We will make the best of this, one way or the other. I’m gonna get a saw, and maybe a refurbished chain saw, and a big bag of marshmallows, and we are gonna cut that tree up and burn it. Darling Daughter said she would help. Relieved by my family’s support and optimism, I went to bed Thursday night happy and ready for a sound slumber. Just as I lay down I heard the boom, and felt the bed shake. Good grief times three. Now what? Then I thought phooey. Whatever it is, it will more than likely still be there in the morning. Then I lay back down and went to sleep. You are never too old to learn another life lesson.