On New Year's day we went out to our wagon and drove it over to our garage. We don't park in our garage because it's full of tools, bikes, boxes, shelves, food storage, hand carts, etc. but we went over there to get something out or put something back, I can't remember now. On the short drive over, the wagon felt like it was driving weird. I thought maybe we had a clod of ice stuck to one of our wheels.
Nope. We had a flat. Luckily, during the short drive Marley had fallen asleep. Nathan and I proceeded to change the wheel to the spare and found a screw in it.
Guess what, the spare was FLAT! Luckily we weren't far from home...just at the garage, remember? So, we called the store we bought the tires from, in American Fork. CLOSED! The closest chain store that could fix our flat for free was 48 miles away in Omaha. BOOOO! So, we called around to see who was open and how much they charge. Because we didn't want to call anyone for a ride and infringe on their holiday merriment we decided to pick the closest place (Sears) and walk.
7 degrees outside - we loaded our handcarts and busted over there on foot, as fast as we could. Marley was in our Jeep jogging handcart (ALL bundled up) and the flat wheel was in the bike wagon/double stroller handcart. Nathan pushed the wheel and I pushed Marley. The walkways were narrow, only the width of a snow blower in most spots...just smaller than the bike wagon. In one spot the sidewalk was not clear at all and we had to wait for traffic to clear and then we ran for it!
As we briskly walked I couldn't help thinking about how the cold made it feel like I wasn't even wearing pants or gloves or shoes. I thought about the Pioneers in dresses and sometimes NO shoes! Makes me cry thinking about it now...but, not then because my face was frozen and no tears could get out. The thing that makes me really tear up is, I was fine because I knew where I was going, about how long it would take and that when it was done, my nice warm house would be waiting to welcome me home. The Pioneers didn't know exactly where they were going. They didn't know how long it would take. And when they got there, they would have to build their homes, grow their food and still survive. What faith and perseverance they had!
I love them!
4 comments:
I too think about the pioneers much more often since moving here. I can't imagine what Winter Quarters was like if it was -10, windchill -37 as it was a few nights ago. Even with a heated home, I was freezing!
I hope all is well with your motorized wagon now. Let me know if you need anything.
So true. And sad. And happy at the same time.
I have tears too here in my nice warm office, sitting in my chair and playing on the computer.
Love you.
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