Goin’ Down the Road
Submitted by My Garden Spot Blog
I got very irritated at ‘Pup last night. As I left work, I called him (as I usually do), and got no answer. Called again, thinking that perhaps he was outside with the Wests, working on the fence…still no answer. After about 14 more calls I was irritated and annoyed and a bit concerned.
Turns out, I didn’t have to worry. He had been helping out with a fence, but not ours. Seems that ‘Pup had been passing by one neighbor’s house and had noticed some very slow progress towards rebuilding all three of her downed fences. Last night, he saw the gent who was doing the work and stopped to say hello and, yes, be nosy.
The neighbor’s son was doing the work by himself, after work, and before he would go home to his own home and family. Because the neighbor behind our neighbor was also an elderly widow (our neighborhood is about half older couples/widows and half young families), the son was also trying to fix HER fences too….for a total of 5 fence lengths…. on his own.
The world is full of unsung heroes, like a good son who extended filial duty to include a woman who had no son of her own to help her.
As he drove on home, there was a nagging voice in his head. (NO, not MINE–not this time)
Now, most people don’t know this, but ‘Pup has a soft spot for…well, to tell the truth, he has a lot of soft spots and he’s a lot more generous than you’d think. By the time he was home, he had decided to go back. He grabbed a hammer and West Jr. (after making sure West Jr. had no girlfriend plans, no homework to do and was off for the evening) and went back to the man on the job.
Something very cool about West Jr.: he thinks chances to do people a favor or a good deed are “neat”. (dang, I like that kid!)
So, off they went, and ‘Pup and Jr. carried things, ‘Pup held tape measures and, no doubt, cracked bad jokes, they got a lot of work done.
By the time I was home, ‘Pup had been asleep for an hour after it got too dark to work. I saw Mr. West and West Jr. working on West Jr.’s car. They’re fixing it up, for West Jr. to drive when he turns 16. I suspect they’ll be looking at auto insurance quotes very intensely. The long term plan is for him to drive this car for a while, then sell it and get a motorcycle. (gulp… a teen on a motorcycle in Houston traffic— I hope he keeps the car for a while.)
Ike was an “ill wind”, no doubt of that. But, like a lot of “ill winds”, some good came of it. ‘Pup and I are very blessed in our neighbors.
