Feb. 27, 2005 - 15:50 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

Whether Or Not

In my later life I was working a full time job and also doing duty at our flower shop. Sleep got scarce for me and rest time was of the essence.

One Saturday in holiday season, late in the day as I was loading my last load of flowers to deliver it began to snow heavily. Wet clinging snow. I didn't have a lot of trouble on my deliveries until I tried to find two places to deliver just west of Aurora Humana Hospital.

That part of town was still relatively new and the streets were not really laid out on the grid system. By the time I got there the snow was obliterating the street signs. I tried to bang the posts they were on but the snow still clung and the signs were so high I couldn't reach them to brush the snow off. I finally got to my last place because a man getting into his car pointed out the house I was going to.

I was Saturday tired, frustrated, and in the State Of Confusion. With the noisy heater going and the windshield wipers thumping I went on. No matter which way I drove I could not find anything familiar enough to let me know where I was in that square mile of snowy hell. I'd drive about so far and come to a dead end, of which there many down there. The gas guage began to show less and less fuel left. Finally I came to an intersection that had a traffic light. I knew that a right turn or a left turn would eventually bring me to a place I could tell where I was.

So when the light turned, so did I, onto a through street which didn't help much because by then the whole world seemed to be plastered with snow and I was as lost as ever. Later showing through the falling snow I spotted a traffic light up ahead, mentally flipped a coin and turned once more. Glumly now I slogged on into the wintry urban wilderness accompanied by a growling tummy. It seemed like I had been driving forever until I spotted a familiar set of buildings and saw that I was going away from the shop.

Getting turned around and through slow moving traffic proceeded to the shop. Heather, upset by my absence pounced on me with the typical words of a worried mate (I've done it to her too,) "Where have you been, you should have been back hours ago. I'm starving." About the only thing I could do was to say, "Lets lock up and go eat." We did so and got in the van, she remarking about the amount of snow that had fallen.

Down the street I turned into the Lost Legion territory and went a bit further while catching heck for turning away from food, and then asked her, "Do you know where you are ?" She said something to the order of, "No, I can't tell." "Okay lady, look at the street sign and tell me," I said. "Gee, there is snow on the sign and I can't read it," she replied. I suggested she get out and go bump the signpost to get the snow off. She got out and gave it a try. Frustrated in the face she climbed back in the van and said, "That darned snow is stuck and won't come off." Then snotty me remarked, "How long do you think it would take you to find your way out of here ?" Paused and then said, "I rest my case."

After a time peace reigned, we both got wet and we found a place to eat. Eating warm food and slurping coffee we satisfied our inner hunger all the while wondering how long it would take to drive the ten miles to home and hoping we didn't vehicularly meet other folks in the fuzzy, dark, snowy night. We lingered, hating to go out again, but finally left and headed home.

By the time we got home the snow had stopped and by Sunday morning the snow soon slid off the street signs. Just normal, we have bad weather, surprising at times -- there is weather Whether Or Not . . . . . . .

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