Monday, July 6, 2009
Firetrucks on My Fourth (Actually Third) of July
My husband had a day off Friday. I know. So did many of you. We had someone come and care for mom and planned
1) a picnic in the park.
2) a movie (The newest Ice Age film...quite amusing)
3) grocery shopping.
This post is going to be about the picnic. Bob drives to a lovely park in Chicago, and parks in the lot of the Library next door. Not a big deal. We thought...
It was lovely day. I did not really want to sit on the ground on top of the hill (rain on Thursday night = mosquitoes on Friday), but agreed with Bob that a picnic in the park would be nice on a park bench, and a walk up the hill nice afterward. Very pleasant.
All was well, but then Bob needed to use the washroom. The fieldhouse was about a couple of city blocks down from the bench we were sitting at, so he took a walk. I sat there drinking my bottle of water, enjoying the fresh air, trees, etc. I look toward the fieldhouse, and Bob is walking away from it, toward the parking lot. I realize being a holiday the fieldhouse must be locked, so I pack up, and walk to the parking lot (which is adjacent to the library, which is also closed) as well. I get there and realize that Bob left without me. That's okay. I've had to go, too, and left behind full shopping carts if the washroom at the market was unavailable. Some things take higher priority than others....
So I sit in the Library rose garden. Not bad. A nice chance of scenery. I like roses. There are pink, red, white, light purple...it was nice. Then, two fire trucks come down the street, no sirens. They stop at the school that is adjacent to the library. It turns out, they are practicing climbing up to the roof, and doing drills and stuff, so that they'll be prepared for a school fire if ever need be (which I think is an excellent practice, but on the weekend of fireworks and firecracker playschool, I think they should have been waiting for other calls, but that's another story....I don't know of any tragedy happening that day because they were climbing ladders at the school, so it turned out to be as good a day as any, I guess).
I realize that the street Bob would use to come back to get me is blocked off by the fire trucks. So, I start walking to the other side of the firetrucks. It's not a long walk, and then Bob wouldn't have to try to find a way around, etc, etc. Well, on Bob's return, he decides to park in the park's parking lot, and not the library's parking lot, which means he takes a different route to the park entirely. He has no idea where I am. After looking around the park, and the library lot (which I left to make finding me more convenient for him), he stands on the highest hill in the park, and calls "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNN! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEN" like he was in a new version of "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Stella changed her name to Helen. I can't hear him. I am several blocks away. He calls home to find out if I ended up there somehow (without my purse...how cute....). Luckily mom wasn't worried. I think she figured that since I'm on Atkin's, and I've been good for a while, there was little danger that I'd be lured into a stranger's van with candy...Anyways, he eventually decided to hop in the van and scour the neighborhood looking for me.
He apologies for leaving me in the park without telling me, but....I interrupt and tell him, no biggie, I've had situations where the same choice would have been a no brainer for me. He then tells me about looking for me all over the park. We agree that I won't be mad at him for leaving me alone in the park (which I really wasn't..how could I be?) and he won't be mad at me for wandering off from where I was left (had I stayed in one place, it would have saved him some worry...one thing about my situation, I wasn't worried).
We still had enough time to get to the theatre and see the movie.
I think it is kind of funny that the firetrucks happened to be there that day...without them, I'd have been in the library parking lot when he looked, which would have been the second place he checked. That's why I am posting this for my Life is Funny post. I hope you found it funny.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, Bob found a bathroom at the nearest Baker's Square. He'd have had time for pie and coffee if I'd have stayed put...
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7 comments:
Which is why I gt so frustrated with my wife when she doesn't carry her cell phone!
Okay, maybe it's just that I haven't had my coffee yet, but how did you end up finding each other? Did I miss it? Until I figure it out, I'll imagine that the firetrucks had something to do with it. Yeah, I really need my coffee.
Haha. I love the Heeeelllleeeeeeen!
Frank took Annabelle on a daddy/daughter day on Friday since he was off of work, too, and they went and saw the same movie!
Great minds think alike and all...
WHen I went on the Adkins Diet , I could have been easily lured into a strangers vehicle with candy! Seriously.
Great story- I'm glad you gave Bob a break.
I'm gonna echo Peter's comment here. You women really need to get with the whole cell phone thing.
This is why I love you Helen.
A post about getting lost in a park, and you manage to make it funny and entertaining from start to finish.
And it's pretty cool that you can both choose to laugh and not get mad about it. ;)
And for the record, Gentlemen, it's the MAN in our house who leaves his phone behind at the most inopportune times.
PeterP, he is the one who suggested I leave my purse because it is too encumbersome.
Wendy, He drove around the neighborhood.
Beth, How sweet that they shared a daddy / daughter day. I loved those..
Sherri, I've had those sort of emergencies too, and I honestly would have left him there in a heartbeat before embarrassing myself...
Billy Coffey, and I'll echo what I said to Peter P.
Steph, thanks. We try to cut each other some slack in most situations, although sometimes my Hungarian gets riled up a bit ;-)
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