This afternoon when Gigs left to work (on the motorcycle), the sun
was shining, the birds chirping- nothing unusual in the weather.
Then when I was making lasagna for dinner, I noticed clouds rolling in,
and pretty soon, the wind started picking up.
Then I noticed that Alexa had turned yellow.
If you own an Alexa, you know that means she has a
notification for you. It could be her reminding you that you need
to reorder more printer cartridges, that FOX News has a special alert,
or that it could be a weather update.
I ignored it and dished up dinner to Lottie and Christian, then
hopped in the truck and took dinner to him at the golf course.
Now it was a little windy, and I could see a
patch of the dark sky off into the distance.
Gigs always knows when I pull up because of the sound of
Christian's diesel truck, and tonight he ran out to meet me in a happy mood
because he loves when I make lasagna. (I make a delicious lasagna).
I handed him the plate and then said,
"It looks like it will rain soon,
I'll just take the motorcycle home now so you don't have to ride
home in the rain and the dark."
We discussed it for a few minutes before I was like,
"Listen, if I don't go now, I'll get stuck in the rain- which,
I didn't know it was supposed to rain today, did you?"
He said to me:
"To rain? Mom, there is a hurricane coming. Didn't you hear?"
Then I thought about that yellow notification light on Alexa.
Impatiently I said to Gigs,
"Just give me the keys; I'll go now."
Now, I'm not proud of it, but I was wearing my Birkenstocks
and a teeshirt. But I felt so much better knowing
I was the one driving home in bad weather. Better me than Gigs.
It was a motherly thing to do.
Besides, there wasn't any rain yet.
Yet.
About 20 seconds after I left Gigs in the parking lot with his
the hot steamy plate of food, it began to rain.
Not just rain, but POUR!
Then there were like 500 mph winds that swept across the road
and took me and the motorcycle with it.
The rain was coming like little rocks pelting me.
Then I swear I got hit by lightning as
trees and branches crashed all around me.
I said so many prayers on my way home- in fact, the whole ride home
was one giant prayer.
Then I thought about Topher.
He SWORE his car got hit by lightning while driving to work.
I'll never forget him telling us all about it in his great
theatrical storytelling way.
I believed him.
I was pretty sure he was with me on the
treacherous backcountry roads home.
I bet several of my ancestors were there,
clearing the way for me to get home safely.
They were probably shaking their heads
and thinking,
Good grief, Stephanie! What are you thinking?
Remember you already ALMOST died?
How many lives do you think you have?
Yes, I thought about pulling over and turning around,
but every time, I thought,
I'll just go a little further.
And before you know it, I was home.
Christian and Lottie were on the front porch waiting for me.
Christian had followed me on our Life 360 app and knew exactly
where I was at every turn. But what he didn't realize was that I was
on the motorcycle. When I pulled in, his mouth was wide open,
and he was yelling
"NO WAY! YOU DIDN'T RIDE HOME ON THE MOTORCYCLE!"
"NO WAY! YOU DIDN'T RIDE HOME ON THE MOTORCYCLE!"
I couldn't believe it either.
That was stupid.
But instead of admitting it, I said,
"I'm from pioneer stock! I can do anything!"
(Nervous laughter).
Branches were strewn all over, and it looked like a hurricane did,
in fact, land on top of Stillestead.
And I WAS DRENCHED- well, the front half of me was.
Grateful to be alive tonight.
And, it was worth knowing Gigs would be comfortably driving
home safe and dry in the truck.
Which he did.
