Wisdom from the WOODS - Rescued by Ernie Wilson
It all depends on how you look at it, but did March come in like a lion or a mouse? We had rain, snow, ice, and extremely cold weather. Things could have been worse, but by the same token, things could have been a lot better as we could have had balmy weather with normal temperatures. I would say that March came in like a lion-hopefully it will go out like a lamb as it is supposed to.
This month’s words of wisdom are in the form of a warning. Usually I can pick out a good topic to write about but this time the warning comes because a recent Saturday started out to include the worst 30 minutes I have had during my 81 years of living.
There have been a lot of tough times in those 81 years that I can recall, but none like this. It all starts like any other Saturday with 8 inches of snow and ice that got soaked by an overnight rainfall. I took Elaine’s dog out early to do her morning things that animals do and I tied her up at the feed room door. While I was waiting, I decided to clear off what snow and ice I could get off the truck.
I was going along pretty good when I hit a slick spot on the ground. I am prone to losing my balance anyway and this was just what I needed to send me flying. I was using a hoe to scrape the ice and snow off the truck and as I was going down, I kept hold of the hoe. There was enough snow and slush where I landed to cushion my fall but I was trapped in about 10 inches of slush, mud and whatever.
When I hit the ground, I was on my back and did I ever have a cold backside. I couldn’t get my feet under me and t was too slick to crawl out of my predicament. I laid there, calling for Elaine but she was fast asleep and couldn’t hear me.
My grandson and family live about 100 yards from where I was trapped, but no one was up yet and they didn’t hear me. Finally, I got enough traction with the hoe to get to the truck door. Luckily, it wasn’t locked and I got the door open. With the hoe handle I hit the horn and laid down several long blasts. After several long tries, my wife woke up and about that time I saw a good neighbor walking down the drive. He had heard someone yelling for help and came to see what was going on. So it was as Dennis the Menace always said, “Good old Mr. Wilson”.
Ernie called his wife to tell her who needed help and then got me to my feet and stayed with me until I got into the house. Before he left, I gave him a great big hug and stayed inside to get warm.
The wisdom from the woods this time is if you go outside and the weather is bad; make sure there is someone in the house who can check on you if you don’t return when you should. Thanks again Ernie…
P.S. I didn’t even get a sniffle from the ordeal