Another day was over. I sat in
my car, turned the key and pulled out of the parking lot. It was Thursday. I had
only one more day until the weekend. Two days alone with my wife.
I turned left onto the highway. Approaching from the
west was an ominous black storm front. Two miles into my drive, the trees began
to sway and dance.
Their leaves fluttered like swarms of butterflies.
Rain began to lash, power washing the layer of farm dust off my car, revealing
the original color of the paint.
I stopped at a red light and watched bolts of
lightning striking just out of view behind buildings. The light turned green. As
I passed through the intersection, I glanced down at my dash. The "battery"
light was on. "That battery is less than two years old. It can't be dead." I
thought to myself. My second thought was, "Will I make it home?"
On the other side of the intersection, traffic came to
a stop. It was backed up due to the storm. My apprehension grew, when I looked
at the dash and saw the "engine" light had joined the "brake" light. The
situation was going from bad to worse.
Fifty feet ahead was the driveway to the parking lot
for a golf course. I pulled to the shoulder, passed the car ahead of me and
pulled into the lot. My mind raced with possible causes and guesses of how much
was this going to cost me? It was obviously an electrical problem. Did lightning
cause it? My first thought, and I hoped I was correct, was the universal belt.
It might be the alternator - a costly replacement. It might even be a computer
failure.
I stepped out into the blinding rain, popped the
engine bonnet and there, wrapped around the pulleys like a dead snake, was my
broken belt.
I was delighted. I wasn't angry, because all the other
possibilities would have cost several hundred dollars to repair. This was simple
and easy.
Ginny picked me up; the car was towed; and the next
day, after paying $128 for repairs, I had my car back.
On the way home, I thanked God the belt hadn't broken
on our trip to the mountains. We would have been stranded without phone service
and perhaps no place to pull over on the narrow and winding roads.
There's two ways to look at all problems we face. Just
remember, chances are, things could always be worse.
Michael T. Smith
heartsandhumor@gmail.com
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
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