RIDING DRAG / MURPHY'S LAW WITH A TWIST

This has not been one of those weekends I call fun. My friends Angela and Mike came up and we started pulling up my kitchen floor. It had sunk over an inch on the north side over the last 16 years and it was time to find out what was wrong under our 100 plus year old kitchen. Ripping up the floor was not the hard part as the wood was so rotted in places that I could not believe someone had not fallen through the floor. Water and old termite damage had taken its toll and the stem wall was like paper. So a weekend project has become a heaven-only-knows-when-there-goes-the-budget project.


My body hurt, my mind was reeling at what lies ahead and my general mood was one of ‘why is it everything is always a major production around here?’ Oh, I know why…Murphy’s Law strikes again! Any trace of my sense of humor went the door with the rotted flooring.

We ran into town to get some supplies and when we got back my daughter was there. She had come to feed the horses and while feeding the two miniatures had discovered that a mouse had chewed through the rubber bin that holds their oats. As she was explaining all of this to me I noticed that her shirt was wet as well as her hair around her face. She said the mouse was still in what was left of the oats and she shook the bin to disorient him and tried to hit him and missed. Her second attempt was successful and she smashed him, which brought her to why she was wet. When she hit him his destructive rodent guts had splattered up and across her shirt and her face. “What did you hit him with?” I inquired. With a sheepish grin she answered “I hit him with the sledge hammer.”

My perspective began to change. My situation paled in comparison to what had just happened to her. “You hit him with a what?” (a giggle from me) “The sledge hammer, Mom.” (a bigger giggle from her). “His guts hit you in the face?” (another giggle) “Yup, he just exploded.” We looked at one another, at Angela and Mike and then there was another explosion…of laughter. Peels of hysterical laughter and snickers, giggles, guffaws and that sputtering noise we make when trying, unsuccessfully, to straighten up and not laugh anymore.

This is what I learned this weekend: Nothing is ever as bad as it seems. I have great two friends willing to give up not just one, but however many weekends it takes to help me fix my house. I have a wonderful, responsible, Ranch Diva daughter with an iron stomach who is not afraid of anything. I also learned that Murphy’s Law which has always applied to me now applies to my precious daughter whom I love, but will not be kissing on the cheek any time soon.

I’m getting a remodeled kitchen…sooner or later. Life is good!



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RIDING DRAG with DEBRA COPPINGER HILL is featured each week at ALWAYS COWBOY where Debra is a Resident Western Poet. Join her and her Cowboy Friends for Cowboy Poetry, News & Events. http://alwayscowboy.net/debra_coppinger_hill_poetry.html