You see, there have been seven robberies not far from here recently, so it seemed wise to lock up for a change. First, I forgot about the dog walker and the spare key which was buried under six inches of ice.
Would I mind picking Finn up at the boxing gym?
Oh I did mind. It added an extra 50 minutes of driving. If I weren’t so well rested, blubbering might’ve ensued.
AND THEN, I couldn’t unlock the house! I shouldn’t admit this, but we so rarely lock up, I wasn’t even sure which key was supposed to open what door.
Did I even HAVE the key? Maybe I’d lent it to one of the boys over Christmas?
After taking a leak behind the garage, I dug in the snow to try and find the hidden key, which I knew worked on the side door. Couldn’t find it. Could not. Hacked at ice with shovel. Then hacked at ice with edger. Still no key.
(This at least caused any irritation at Handsome Dog Walker to dissipate. Somehow I thought he’d caused me an extra hour of driving by being unwilling to make a four minute effort).
I texted K. He’d come home early but he doesn’t have a house key either.
Really got to thinking I’d rather have my laptop stolen than go through this.
Finn was being good. Patient. He had his little flannel coat on.
Tried the front door again and this time, pushed it open. Whew! I felt such a wave of relief there was almost no room for negative self talk (but seriously, Dee?)
Thank goodness it was 22 degrees and not 2 or 3 degrees with -15 degree windchill like it’d been the previous three days!
Handsome Dog Walker exhausted Finn, so the dog has curled up and slept ever since we got in. And my sister’s tuxedo kitty and she are happy to be home again.
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about the amazing adventure with social security I had on the phone this morning in an effort to renew my driver’s license as a RealID. Hint: it’s a nightmare!
Yikes! The frost patterns are beautiful, but door keys buried in ice sound terrible. I’m glad you got inside.
Ill be locking at every exit now. It should become routine in short order.
Hoping tomorrow will be a better than today .. goodnight 💤 sleep tight 😴
Today was better. Social security errand amazingly easy!
Colder up here in Maine so my dog only got potty breaks outside. No flannel jacket or those dog boots. When it’s cold the snow and ice freeze the doors shut–like the garage door etc. We can get out the front door….. Handsome Dog Walker……is something I’ll be thinking about-Thank you!
Over the weekend, Finn stepped outside and came right back in a number of times. Wasn’t having it.
Looking forward to the drivers license debacle! It might be akin to my renewing my passport here. What a saga! Glad you managed to get inside before you froze into a little Dee statue. Ha!
Now I wait and see if I get my replacement SS card in time. Probably will. Waiting in line today it was easy to be patient knowing how low the stakes were for me (whether I’d have to present passport or not traveling domestically — that’s it). Other people there with bigger issues.
A horror story about the key but happy ending. Goodness we could never leave the house with the door unlocked and we have keys deposited around at neighbors. Not so cold here in south Germany, 17°F –
It’s time I got in the habit. One neighbor has a key but she also has the flu right now.
My folks used to leave their back door unlocked … their UPS guy knew this and would bring packages inside, leaving them on the kitchen counter.
When I was little, our house had no key. Our doors were always unlocked, even when we left for two weeks on vacation. That came from living on an out of the way edge of a corner of the US where nothing ever happened…the Pacific Northwest. So many things have changed since then! Now, on the same island, we always lock every door every time.
I was a latch key kid in the suburbs with no key — ever. I did lock my places during college and when I lived in Florida and San Francisco. But haven’t here. I don’t even know why. A few years ago someone stole keys off a kitchen table and drove off with the person’s car WHILE HE WAS UPSTAIRS! That was right around the block. I swore I was gonna lock then. But I mean it now. Interesting that you’ve lived on an island your entire life.
Not quite my entire life. I was four when my parents moved from the deep Mojave desert to Anacortes, WA, where my dad got a job at the oil refinery that had just been built there. Anacortes is on an island connected by bridges to the mainland and is the jumping off point for the San Juan Islands. I grew up there and met Mike in high school. My family moved back down to Seattle and I went to the University of Washington, as did Mike. After we got married we stayed in the Seattle area because that is where the jobs were and raised our kids in one of the suburbs. Mike’s dad stayed in Anacortes that whole time so we visited often and when we retired we found a magical piece of property there and moved back. Home. We’re very lucky.
Thanks for sharing. I am more than a little vague on western geography.
That’s too funny! Where did you grow up again?
Manhattan. Way back in the seventies I never locked and many neighbors had keys for the few times I did (like when I was out of town. Now…one neighbor has keys and two far flung old friends have keys but are not in showing up distance.
The Ice crystal shots would make swell blank cards by the way.
Nice idea about the frost. Glad one of your neighbors has a key. Seems like there’s been a fair amount of turnover in your building.