This Happened!

What a week it has been! Yes, one of the tracks on the Mule came off. Ugh!

It all started when I had cabin fever and decided to leave camp and travel to the big city for the night to buy produce, yarn for weaving projects and buttons for the gold sweater I am knitting.

On Wednesday, Gaston brought me with the Mule, on the snow and ice covered road, to where we keep our truck parked at the corner. I then drove the truck to the nearest town to where my car is parked at a friend's house. I switched vehicles there. The entire trip to the big city took five hours, one way.

On Thursday late afternoon, I let Gaston know when I'd be back at the corner.

Well, he didn't arrive, and he didn't arrive.

As it became dark, and the stars came out, I tried not to worry, which was a very hard thing to do despite it being a mild and clear night. It was actually quite lovely with the tall Spruces silhouetted against the night sky.

I knew he knew better than to take a shortcut across icy lakes, and I doubted he had slipped off the icy road. Still, I had to wrestle with my imagination... worried that somehow he became trapped under the Mule.

After waiting an hour and a half after his expected arrival, I prepared to leave him a note telling him that if he did arrive, to stay put. My plan was to drive back to where I could get a cell signal and call friends for help. Then, I would drive back to the corner and wait some more.

Just as I was about to crawl back up into the truck to leave, I saw a flashlight coming towards me out of the darkness. Gaston gradually appeared, coat draped over his arm. What a sight for sore eyes!

Now, if you are familiar with the autobiography Woodsong, by Gary Paulson, you might remember how his wife was waiting for him, in the dark, as he came across the finish line in his first Iditarod. I became her. I do have a tendency to have an overactive imagination.

I choked up every year I read that part of Woodsong to my students. In fact, my annual emotions became so predicable, that I would eventually ask a student to read the ending to the rest of the class while I sat nearby with a Kleenex.

Gaston had walked for 1.25 hours from where the right back track fell off the Mule. Tired, but not worse for wear, he was one happy man when he saw me there. Together we decided to head back to into town and spend the night in a motel.

We dragged all of the groceries into the motel room, had a feast and the opportunity to watch the State of the Union Address. I was quite happy to have access to a flush toilet for the second night in four months.

The next day, the snow had melted so much that we were able to drive the truck back into camp. We are way ahead of schedule on this, and I have to say I am very excited that our next trip into town will be so much easier. No more transfer of vehicles. No more broken tracks.

With the help of two wonderful and generous friends, Gaston switched out the tracks for tires the next day and was able to drive the Mule back to the cabin.

Overall, many silver linings.

I decided to buy several different types of buttons, as I won't be going back to a store anytime soon. I couldn't decide which ones would look best on the sweater.

Yep! These are the ones!

Enjoy Ricky's Corner this week (A Letter From Tex), and THANK YOU for tuning in!