On Sunday April 6, TLATO and I drove into Toronto in her car; we were going to stay over at her Mum's place before taking a morning flight to Florida.I decided to take the scenic route; a beautiful drive west bound from Hwy. 115 to Hwy. 407 on a narrow and occasionally windy road. At that time, spring had not really hit these parts in earnest. Snow banks were still evident and there was on this quaint road, severe winter damage from the ravages of extreme cold and moisture. Potholes that could swallow a Smart car.
You may have read an earlier post where I commented on drivers' habits in the country; Well one of them found us, and on a Sunday too, no less.
On two occasions, this "individual" sounded his horn at us. Each time, I looked in the rear view mirror, could see no reason for the noisy interruption and continued on our journey, muttering niceties under my breath to anyone within earshot about the lineage of said horn honker. Finally, at the third intersection, the idyllic silence was once again interrupted with the urgent sounding of "Twitchy's" horn. We pulled forward and stopped our car. I rolled down the window. Twitchy drew alongside and rolled down the passenger window in his GM family truckster. Sitting in the front seat was a very pregnant woman and strapped into the back seat were three youngsters of various ages. In as polite a voice as I could possibly muster, I inquired if there might be something that we might be able to do to assist him with his horn hand. "You lost a hub cap about three clicks back..." he grinned.
You see, we still had on our snow tires and steel rims. When we purchased them, the dealer "threw in" four hub caps so the rims would not look quite as ugly.
Feeling foolish, I thanked him and his family for their attention to our problem, turned to Sheryl and hissed, "We're not going back... it's a freakin' hub cap, is all." And so we continued on our journey.
Fast forward to April 18. We are driving home from the airport. On that same country road. Just about where we pulled over, TLATO cheerfully wondered out loud that wouldn't it be weird if we found our hub cap?
Naturally, at this point, I was in head-on "guy" mode. I was on a mission. I wanted to get home in the best time possible. I smirked and uttered a disdainful, "Whatever!" and sped along.
Listening to White Bird by It's a Beautiful Day on Sirius satellite radio, I was in the zone. My personal tranquility was interrupted by a scream coming from the person to my right. "Look! Look!" There's our hubcap, there's our hubcap!" Now you need to understand that when it comes to cars and such, Sheryl is as observant as most people - in other words, NOT! How she could identify this piece of aluminum as we sped by escapes me. I did not see Grissom and his CSI cohorts in the immediate vicinity.
Like the dutiful husband that I am, I stopped the car and pulled a U-turn. There, propped up lovingly against a tree trunk was a hubcap. Our hubcap.
Naturally, Sheryl was ecstatic and for the next half hour or so went on about how amazing this was... what were the odds, etc., etc.
Me? I just wanted to get home, unpack the car and have a nap.
I have to admit, the thought did cross my mind to buy a lottery ticket...
2 comments:
I lost my engagement ring more than five years ago and found another three months later at a laundry mat. It was too good to be true, so when I posted "jewelry found" no one called. It was still too good to be true so instead of keeping the ring, I gave it to my mother-in-law for Mothers Day.
With that in mind, my husband managed to surprise me with a new beautiful diamond ring. It was just one of those things that was meant to be. Your hub cap was meant to be lol. Endearing story.
As I read this aloud to my Darling Bride, she began wondering if it was a story I had written.
For a reference, check out 'Red Dwarf One, over and Out' on my blog
DJW
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