The story goes of the fellow who survived the Johnstown flood finally passing on and when he’d aced the entry exam, found St. Peter asking him what he’d like to do. On earth, the fellow had made a pest of himself by regaling to any captive audience how his intellect had spared him from drowning in the flood.
St. Peter, known as the boisterous fisherman who was recruited for and became the chief of the New Testament Apostles when he was here as a mortal. The same who, when Judas made his betrayal, drew his own sword and “smote off the ear” of one of the guards as his Lord was arrested …
Yes, that Peter gathered a suitable crowd for the survivor to annoy. He pointed to a fellow sitting in the front row and said, “Just so you know, that’s Noah.”
It must be a horrible feeling to see a vehicle stuck on railroad tracks with no way to move as the train approaches, going too fast to even slow, let alone stop. It’s worse when something can be done but there is no way to get the attention of those involved.
Or to observe a vehicle on the highway with an underinflated tire. And when you catch up with it at a stop sign and alert the driver – only to have him say that it’s OK, it always looks like that. And it’s a century-mark day for temperature and it appears the fellow is headed for Seattle. That will be close to two hours of freeway speeds, and the odds are that the trailer tire will overheat and self-destruct.
Part of surviving is understanding that you’re not the first one on your trail, and that some of those before have left markers and warnings. In the aftermath of the tsunami in the Far East that took about a quarter-million lives, a large stone marker was found on a hillside facing the sea. The estimate was that it had been placed some 200 years before. The faint markings carved in it read, “Do not build below this point.” And almost everything between that point and the sea had been destroyed.
A person watches as family members deal with diabetes, and it seems the last years of their lives are almost totally consumed dealing with diabetes-related issues. Then others are seen with the same issues that the doctors said contributed heavily to the loved one’s illness. But all attempts to wave a warning flag are brushed off.
We were hauling hay to ranches in northern Nevada years back; I got a call from Leo Ritthaler, who had stayed in Nevada. He told me I better bring some insulated boots because when he followed another truck, the exhaust from it had turned into snowflakes by the time it got to him.
Leo had driven in Alaska as the oil pipeline was being constructed. He said that when diesel truck exhaust turns to snow, it was colder than 20 below zero. I brought felt-lined packs plus some other cold-weather essentials for the truck. We survived. I knew that Leo understood the cold weather and snow.
The key to longevity in a motor vehicle seems to be to keep a clean air filter in place – and change the oil every now and again. My pickup stands at 515,090 miles on the odometer. All the important stuff still works. I’ve been eight years without a pickup payment.
Having a wife who was involved with some form of medicine for most of her life may be part of why my decrepit old body still kinda works on a good day. At what age am I supposed to stop complaining about being old and start bragging about how long I’ve survived? I don’t want to get carried away on that one, because someday I’m gonna meet Methuselah.
Then there’s the pandemic of broken families. Let me paraphrase a bit. During the last 30 years, we’ve driven close to a dozen cars, all of the same make and engine. My wife put lots of miles on her car, teaching in the EMS system all across eastern Washington state. She usually got more than 300,000 miles on each car, and we had engine trouble on only two of those. One was a mistake to buy because it had been abused. So, 90% were excellent.
I’ll go out on a limb and state that 90% of the time, if you consider “the way you treated your spouse when you were dating, the kindness, gifts, affection, attention, etc.,” the same for family maintenance as you do regular oil changes for your car, the results will be similar.
If you stop changing the oil on your car after the first year, it ain’t gonna last.
If you stop “dating” your spouse after the first year, that family ain’t gonna last either.
