Tuesday, April 24, 2007

G is for Guardian Angel

















And Grandmothers


3rd year of Letter People stitching continues for the two Kindergarten classes I volunteer for.
42 x 26 total this year.
7 X 42 letters remain.
Not doing the math.
Better if I don't know know.


During Round 3 of Sock Madness I mentioned finishing that pair while watching the Maine college hockey team at the Frozen Four. Sadly they lost. But the saddest news of all we learned the following day. Coach Whitehead's mother-in-law was killed in a car accident on her way to the game from Ohio with her husband. They didn't tell the media until after the game.

Coach's little boy is in one of the Kindergarten classes I do the Letter People for.
This week his class receives letter G. Working on them brought tears to my eyes more than once.
G is for Grandmother.
But this week that breaks my heart.

Meanwhile, our own Guardian Angel worked overtime this week.
  • A mid April snowstorm left the roads a mess. Tom was on vacation but we spent most of the first half of it trying to control water coming into the basement. 3 sump pumps going steady at times, still had all they could do keeping up with the flow.
  • The Jeep Wrangler had a date with a mechanic to install new shocks on Monday, but the trip nearly ended in disaster as Tom decided to save gas and not use 4-wheel drive during our freak blizzard. Following him to the garage in order to give him a ride home gave me a front row view as the Wrangler went out of control and swerved from one side of the road and back again; headed straight for a row of giant maples before finally regaining control. If any cars had been in the other lane he would have broad sided them. Twice.
For the record: screaming, "Tom, you're panicking!" in wide-eyed terror. Probably doesn't help. As he got into my Jeep - the one in 4-WHEEL DRIVE! - I suggested I get him home so he could change his drawers. And no more saving $3 of gas while risking thousands of dollars damage. Men.
  • By Wednesday spring arrived with temps in the high 60's. We set off in the Wrangler for Ellsworth for old book shop/Antique browsing. I drove. We pulled in at the gas pumps on the outskirts of Ellsworth and as Tom went inside to pay I decided to move out of the way. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor. With a squishy sensation I was pretty sure was a bad sign. I rolled to a stop and got out to look. Sure enough brake fluid was leaking out onto the ground. A wrecker and $180 later could not diminish the good fate of losing brakes while at a standstill. Minutes before we had been traveling 50 MPH and minutes later we would have started a long downhill route towards the busy downtown area.
Extra precaution has been taken for the remainder of the week.
Our Guardian Angel has been busy enough.
No need to press our luck further.

In knitting news:
  • I started a second pair of Mad Color Weave socks from round 4. Savoring the process a few rows at a time, rather than knitting steady with 3 hours of sleep seems to be working out just fine. I hardly need the pattern, although keeping notes on where I am remains tedious but vital. Someday I hope to be able to tell exactly what row I'm on just by looking!
  • Zipper has been applied to baby sweater. It lays perfectly flat one minute and then little waves appear when moved. I think it's a symptom of plastic zippers more than my technique.
It's what I'm telling myself.

1 comment:

Sheepish Annie said...

How incredibly sad about the coach's MIL...and all the more tragic give the circumstances.

But I'm very, very glad that you survived your trial by weather with the jeep! Here's hoping that we are past all that snow and can settle into some nice sunshine!