Tonight around 10 pm I was standing at my kitchen sink washing dishes and out the corner of my eye I could have sworn I saw a dark figure go past the little window in front of me. I shook it off, telling myself, “Oh I’m sure it’s nothing.” And went back to washing. But I couldn’t help but keep glancing up and out the window. And a few minutes later there it was again! This time I was SURE it was a tall dark figure of a man who went quickly past my window. I yelled for my husband who was in the next room to come, as I crossed the room to try to look out the next window.
I see the tall figure of a man rushing down our sidewalk. Then he stops for a second, and what’s that?
What’s that he’s doing?
Did he just sweep something off my sidewalk?
That’s when I saw just enough of the jacket to know it was my DAD.
I flipped the porch lights on and off. And I waved and he waved back. I waited a few minutes for him to walk home, then I called my parents and told my Mom to tell my Dad that the next time someone asks him what his hobbies are he’s going to have to include, “SCARING THE CRAP OUT OF DEB !” :)
Now that my dad is retired, you just never know where he’s going to be. Or when.
Now I wouldn’t want anyone to mistake anything I say. I mean how many people love you enough to walk to your house in 19 degree weather to sweep your sidewalk because another 2 inches of snow came down since he last took a leaf blower to it earlier in the evening? Seriously? How many people do you know? Exactly.
My parents are great. And I love that my Daddy loves me enough to do sweet stuff like that. But seriously… he needs to call and give me a heads-up first or something. Or I’m going to have a heart attack one of these days!
See the thing about those moments is that you don’t think logically. Had I used that pesky little thing called logic, I would know that if anybody else had even stepped foot around here, the dogs would have went completely and totally BAT SHIT CRAZY. The likelihood of anyone setting foot within 200 yards of my house without everyone knowing about it is about…. zilch. So the chances that someone could walk down the sidewalk without so much as a peep from my family’s army of furred guards ranging from 10 lbs to nearly 200 lbs… well …. it aint’ happenin. And anyone stupid enough to try it well, I feel sorry for them, because if the dogs don’t get them, one of the many well-armed Veterans around here just might. But the problem is, in the moment of standing there washing the dishes, None of that LOGICAL crap runs through my mind. All that runs through my mind is,
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE JUST RAN BY THE WINDOW!!!”
