I
had a wonderful Mother’s Day. Most notably, daughter Hallie came to spend the
weekend with us. She said she would do anything I wanted to do, so on Friday
she accompanied me to the Lewis-Clark State College Library and helped me make
a start with microfilm research, something I had never done. We also visited
Normal Hill Cemetery. We were only moderately successful in our searches for
obituaries of interest, but I’ve made a start – faced the “buffalo,” as it
were. I will go back.
On
Saturday Mike began a motorcycle tour, so Hallie, Nellie, and I went to the
farm. The majority of our efforts went to weeding the raspberry patch and
transplanting a few canes.
Hallie
wants to train the Montmorency sour cherry tree. Okay . . . if she wants to. We’ll
see what happens.
Saturday
afternoon we took a break from our work and returned to the dump site we found
last December. Great care was in order because of rusting cans, broken glass,
and barbed wire. We found a couple of intact medicine bottles – that’s about as
interesting as it got.
It
was wonderful that Hallie could see the farm in its spring finery – so many
trees in bloom. And yet, as the lilacs fade here in the valley, they have yet
to blossom forth at that altitude.
Regrettably,
we had to leave after lunch on Sunday. I congratulated myself that I am fully
capable of handling Mike’s share of the routine. I packed the necessary
electronics, turned off the modem, turned down the water heater, placed a few
mouse traps and dead bolted the front and back doors. Hallie helped me pack the
basket of clean clothes, the cooler, and whatever else.
“Are
we ready then?” I called to her. She affirmed – and I stepped out of the house,
locking the door and closing it behind me.
I
knew immediately what I had done. I had locked the house with my purse – and my
key to the house -- inside. I had the key to the Dakota in my hand, but I keep
it separate from my other keys and that ring doesn’t have a house key on it.
Hallie
and I both knew that Mike had placed an extra key within the farm grounds. He
had told me the location, but I have never had occasion to use it, so I
couldn’t remember where it is. We turned the place upside down looking for it.
“Knowing Dad,” she said, “it’s in some clever but not really hidden spot.” She
decided to call her brother Clint for any insight he might have, but he just
reiterated her thought that the key was likely hidden in plain sight, so to
speak.
Hallie
had to be at the airport by 5:30, so we had no choice but to leave for town
soon. I had about decided to give up the search. I could get another key at the
town house and drive back to the farm for my purse, but when I thought of all
the stuff in my purse – keys, ID, credit cards, iPod, cell phone, etc., I searched
my mind again for a way to gain entry to the house. Hallie was also determined
not to give up.
I
thought of one spot – just one “chink” in the house’s armor, so we explored
that and with some finesse, we were able to gain entry without causing damage.
Once we were in, we also secured that spot. It had taken half an hour to find the
solution, but we had my purse and were on our way. We still had plenty of time.
It
seemed a stupid thing, and maybe it was, but undoubtedly there was a blessing
in it. Maybe someday it will be revealed. Or maybe I’ll never know. KW
3 comments:
Tell us more about the Microfilm search. What did you look for? What did you find?
Lost key stories are in every family. The more frustrated the people are in the story, the better it is! Glad that it had a happy ending.
One of the "lost key stories" in my family happened in the 1980's when I lived in L.A. My mother came from Denver to visit. We left town for a couple of days, heading to San Diego. Mother wanted to drive by the ocean on the way to SD. We left West L.A. and leisurely drove down PCH (Highway 1). I stopped in Long Beach for gas. My car had a gas cap key and as I put my hand inside my purse, I was in for a shock. No key. I dug through everything and every place and still no key.
There was nothing I could do, but go back home to get the other key. Obviously, I was worried that I'd run out of gas on the way. This time, I went back on the 405 freeway. Mother had chattered on the way down to Long Beach. On the way back, I said that I didn't want to talk. She fell silent. When we arrived at my place, I got the other key and then threw everything from my purse out on a table & began to inspect every item. When the purse was empty, my gas cap key poked its head out of a fold in the purse lining. I yelled out in frustration. Talk about feeling stupid. Mother didn't comment. She didn't need to. I filled up the tank & took the freeway to San Diego where we had a great time.
Ha! Mom was taking photos without my knowing. That cherry tree will be a sight to behold!
Leah: Oh, what a bad day! I think that's much worse than our key story. We actually had an interesting hunt for the spare--I'm just surprised we didn't find it, but I suppose that indicates the level of security is high enough.
Love the pictures! What a wonderful Mother's Day you had and how sweet of Hallie.
I keep all my keys on one key ring, and I've trained myself to PUT IT IN THE PURSE (emphasis for myself). I used to lock my keys in the car on a regular basis, but now I use the remote and lock it after I get out of the car, so there's no chance of doing that any more. So far, I've not left my purse anywhere. :-)
Good job on "breaking and entering", and as Hallie says, it looks like the level of security is high enough.
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