Dot's Thoughts

Monday, June 4, 2012

CHUCKLES----

The Toilet Seat

My wife, Julie, had been after me for several weeks to paint the seat on our toilet. Finally, I got around to doing it while Julie was out. After finishing, I left to take care of another matter before she returned.

She came in and undressed to take a shower. Before getting in the shower, she sat on the toilet. As she tried to stand up, she realized that the not-quite-dry clear epoxy paint had glued her to the toilet seat.

About that time, I got home and realized her predicament. We both pushed and pulled without any success whatsoever. Finally, in desperation, I undid the toilet seat bolts. Julie wrapped a sheet around herself and I drove her to the hospital emergency room.

The ER Doctor got her into a position where he could study how to free her. (Try to get a mental picture of this.) Julie tried to lighten the embarrassment of it all by saying, "Well, Doctor, I'll bet you've never seen anything like this before."

The Doctor replied, "Actually, I've seen lots of them...... I just never saw one mounted and framed."

(Please continue reading my story below)

Family Legacy - Part 2

THE FLOOD

It was Steve's first Christmas, I believe. We had a good time watching him open presents, most of which I had made. We felt so alone, because the Folks were living in Arcata and we had moved to Belmont for Jerry's job. No other family had moved down here yet.

We planned to go to Arcata for Christmas, but it was the year of the great flood. We had the trailer that we borrowed from Dad to move down here, and wanted to take it back.

We listened to weather and road reports constantly, hoping for a good word. Finally, about the 28th, it sounded better so Jerry said, "Let's go". Sounded good to me.

All went well until we got to Laytonville. The road was closed and it was dark. We didn't know what to do. I had brought some boiled eggs and some other things to eat. We went to a restaurant to wait until we found out what we could do. They gave Steve some crackers and gave us hot water to drink. Then we decided we should get a motel, though it cost about all the money we had with us.

We were told the bridge was out at Cloverdale, so we were told we could go across to Highway 1 to Ft. Bragg, go north, and back again to Garberville. The next morning, we were off again, in our Nash Rambler and pulling the wooden trailer. The weather was clear, but murky, and the sun still was not shining. Somewhere along that road, the trailer came loose and rammed into the gas tank. We had a gas tank leaking in the middle of NOWHERE! There were no services on this road at that time.

Jerry made a plug with a branch from a tree, and filled the hole. (I believe that plug was still there when we traded that car.)

We arrived in Ft. Bragg with no money, and by this time it was getting dark again. Days are short in December. We knocked on the door of a house by a gas station. The people were very cordial, inviting us in and I believe they gave us soup. We had to get back to Highway 101 tonight, so we verified directions and went on our way. This was still the evening of the second day.

When we got back to 101, we continued north. We came to a place where water was rapidly pouring over the highway. This was at Benbow. We were afraid, but Jerry said, "Pray really hard". It was very dark and we didn't realize how bad it really was because no one had told us about this place, but I prayed harder than I had ever prayed. He got a running start and somehow we stayed on top of the water and landed on the other side with the motor still running. I believe that took two bands of angels to carry us over; one band of angels for us and the car and one band to get the trailer across. Somehow, that night, we got to Garberville.

In Garberville, they had a relief place set up in a gym. They asked us where we came from. When we said, "the Bay Area," they were amazed and said we couldn't have come up that highway. They insisted we couldn't have made it through that spot where the road is washed out at Benbow. They asked how we got there. They had lost a dump truck and 2 tractors down the river there; totally gone. They told us they are taking a convoy to Eureka tomorrow, and we HAD to go with the convoy.

We were given a warm meal there and a place to stay in the home of a dentist, Dr. Ball. That was the end of the second day.

It turned out that the Balls are Christians. They were very good to us. Steve slept with us. Dr Ball filled our gas tank before we left.

The afternoon of the third day, the convoy left Garberville, and we finally got to Arcata. It is usually a 7 hour trip.

This is really awesome, as I think about it now. Had we plunged into that river, none of our family, the children or the grand children, would exits on Earth today. So everything else that follows is a gift from God, and our Family’s Legacy.

Dot

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