Miles and Miles Part 1

 

Miles and miles of marriage. That's true after 27 years. The last two anniversaries have been quite memorable. The one last year was so extreme that I've only talked about it in small sketches. It is far enough away finally, that I am beginning to see the humor in it. This past anniversary celebration was on vacation in Italy. Which in a lot of ways was not nearly as bizarre as the prior one, but still had it's moments of touch and go.

My husband has the ability to shut out a bad memory about five minutes after it happens. So when you are in the midst of a series of unfortunate events, each one disappears as a new one makes it approach. I am not like that. My experiences are felt, tasted, and seen with deep poignancy, joy or agony. Except I do have to admit, after 27 years I am learning to temper all those emotions with realism and practicality and help from the Holy Spirit. Thank God.

Anyway...Anniversary #26

We are in Arizona...It's six a.m. and we are just leaving our Air B&B where we have made our abode for the last two weeks. St Johns, Arizona is high-ish desert. We have been there, putting a fence around the 40 acres we own. 

For two weeks we have worked in the high winds and hot sun of winter on the rolling hills of our property. Each evening we hobble into our room, cold, hungry and windburned, and eat a grocery store quick meal of eggs and toast or a can of beans and a few hotdogs. Afterward we snuggle on the couch and watch a few of our favorite channels on YouTube and then creak like old people to our bed to sleep like zombies for seven or eight hours before doing it all again.

Each morning we get up early, eat breakfast, pack food and drinks for the day, and drive 14 miles out of town across cattle trodden dirt roads to our land. Each day, upon arriving, we see more miraculously accomplished...we were always too tired at end of day to marvel at our work. Seeing it again in the morning with sun glow on it, gives us energy to continue.

On Sundays, we would leave the ranch behind and go to a neighboring larger town to get more fencing supplies. I felt like a real rancher woman on those days, riding into town with sunburned lips and a chapped, weathered face, my cowboy by my side. No amount of lotion and pampering could catch up with a weeks worth of neglect on my middle-age skin, but I felt it worth a try, sitting in a climate controlled vehicle and at a real table and chairs for a meal at a restaurant. I felt I finally understood why claw-footed bath tubs were invented for the old western films. Luxury is defined by a good soak in a tub.

So we lived this rough and glorious life. That we left it all behind on our anniversary day was forgotten as we loaded up the rest of our things early that morning in 6 inches of snow wide spread through out the region. I was all for heading back to our cozy little room and tucking in for a day. But my husband had goals. One being a certain destination before sundown. Never mind the weather. He's not afraid of a little ole snow storm.

A few miles out of town we came upon an accident on a hill. Traffic was stopped both ways. A semi truck had tried to crest the hill but couldn't because of the ice. So we were a part of the snake of vehicles at the top of a deep hill and at the bottom waiting to come up was the other snake of vehicles. And I wondered at the brave people who were so dedicated as to travel the roads in this weather this early in the morning. I did some dedicated praying too while Bruce casually stepped out of the vehicle to see the situation better and to chat with the officer directing traffic.

We waited only a short time till they began to let traffic through around the semi and then within a couple hours we drove out of the snow-covered roads on to bare pavement, soon arriving in a small town where we stopped for fuel and bathroom.

In the bathroom as I was thanking God for His care and safety. I remembered that it was indeed our anniversary day. I went back out into the cold wind and saw Bruce ready to switch places, me watching the vehicle, he using the bathroom. As we approached one another, I blurted out "Happy Anniversary!" And then we had the quickest kiss in history as he swung me around and we giggled like teenagers. 

Nothing unusual happened for several hours after that. We drove and drove and felt at peace because we were finally going home and had escaped the bad weather. And we felt extremely successful having just put 4 miles of barbed wire fencing around our property. We pounded each and every stake into hard packed soil together. We stood opposite each other holding the post hole digger and lifted together and dropped together. And unrolled barbed wire with gloved hands and got caught and our fingers even bled for the cause. So success? Yes.

We stopped to refuel around lunch and that is when the next test came. Our vehicle is quirky and randomly decides to lock us out. Which is what happened. We both got out at the same time, Bruce to fuel, me to use the restroom, and then we always do the switch. However we both heard our doors close and then the lock click. All the locks. Even the back door which sometimes doesn't lock. With the keys in the ignition and our phones both laying inside the center console. Oh, and also my coat was laying neatly on the seat I had just left and it was blowing winter prairie cold in New Mexico that day.

Again, I found myself in a truck stop restroom breathing prayers of praise and rescue. I wondered how God could get us our of this pickle. I took my time in there, praying and using warm water, dreading the return to the outside and a locked vehicle. 

After much time passing and many people volunteering and calls made for a locksmith which was more than an hour away...One of the cashier's boyfriend was good at getting into vehicles...She'd call him. He'd bring his tools. He came and tried every which way and we were thankful to learn he was a local firefighter/rescue guy. Not just the guy that was good at getting into vehicles.

Together for a good hour they tried and failed. I alternated between warming up inside and overhearing all the local gossip about trophy deer the one cashier was watching from her house because she put out a salt block for him and going out to hear different ideas on how one could just get a wire inside and use the correct movement to jerk the unlock button. It clearly wasn't working.

A quiet Spanish speaking man arrived on the scene out of the blue, saw the situation, trotted off across the parking lot to the neighboring field and brought back a fence post. He wore a mild smile and politely asked to try. Bruce was rather horrified to see that big of an object trying to be threaded down through the top of the window, but stepped aside. However, before the man had the post up attempting to get in, he stopped again suddenly and  trotted to his nearby car. This time he came back with a long crow bar looking thing, popped it inside, willing us all to be quiet with his demeanor as he confidently went for his object and with one deft movement, unlocked our door. With a small flash of a smile he was off and wanted no to do at all. I think he was an angel. Either that...Well, I don't like to think about what else he could've been. But I gave God the credit that he used this man to unlock our car door.

The day is not over, but this story is getting long so I will continue it next week hopefully. So far, note that God was with us and we had much praise to give Him...even with bad roads and locked doors.