I'm Such a Stick-in-the-Mud!

Today was one of those days I wish I carried a camera with me at all times.

My sweet friend Kat had invited me and my colleague, Patrea, over for tea after work.  (When a British woman invites you round for tea, you can't pass it up!)  So we went and enjoyed a relaxing and happy hour with Kat and her baby boy. 

It has been raining here a lot, and Kat lives in an area where the potholes in the road are more like craters.  When the craters fill with rain, you get lakes and rivers and swirling, gooey mud and sand. Patrea and I had gotten to Kat's house alright, even though she had to carefully drive her Land Cruiser around said lakes and mud pits. Leaving was another story.

Patrea swung her truck to the right in order to turn around, and we promptly got stuck. Really stuck. In a mess of gooey mud and sand in the middle of the road.  I opened the door to see how bad it was. The front tires were more than half buried and the rear ones were not much better.

Patrea tried gunning it. She tried going in reverse, and turning, and shifting gears, and everything.  The neighbors started gathering and watching us, some of them offered advice and tried to push us out. Finally there were a lot of people just staring at us and laughing. So humiliating.

It was no use. Time to call for help.  We called our husbands.  Aaron was still busy at work but dispatched the mobile patrol guards to help.  Patrea's husband was already home for the evening but said he'd be right there with his truck and a rope.

Kat decided that this was going to take awhile and invited me back into her garden to wait.  I got out and inched along the running boards in my heels, until I found a place I could land that didn't look too bad. My shoes were only half covered in mud by the time I got to her door.  Patrea decided to wait in the truck, so she could steer while they pulled her out.  I called home to tell the kids I'd be home in a while....Nick said, "What do you mean you're stuck?!" 

All of the menfolk arrived and assessed the situation.  Instead of ruin their boots and shoes they all just went into the slop barefoot, tied the rope to the stuck vehicle and the other end to the rescue vehicle.  With a lot of effort and maneuvering and laughter, the Land Cruiser was freed!