We've officially made the 10 hour grueling drive.
We've officially arrived.
I can't believe how much different the weather is here. It may come as no surprise then that we are all ill-prepared for all this cool weather. What can I say? I'm acclimated to the deep South now. We're still in late summer down there, man. But shorts and blouses aren't really cuttin' the mustard up here. Though I must admit, I'm quite thankful to no longer be sweating out of every pore in my body. It makes me feel like a man.
And North Carolina sure is beautiful.
We visited a local farmer's market the first day we arrived - pumpkins, local fruit and vegetables, grass-fed beef, local milk, pastured chicken....it was wonderful!
I got to talking with the local chicken farmer while we were browsing around - man, I could really spend some time talking with people like that. In a matter of five minutes, we'd covered the insecurity of particular careers, the wave of the economy, pastured animal products, self-sustaining tendencies, blogs, consumer desires, a recent local e.coli outbreak that has already claimed the life of multiple young children, and the politics of raw milk.
I could have stayed and chatted him up longer but the family was starting to give me the skank eye, so I figured it was time to call it. And that's all I have to say about that.
That story had nothing to do with this next story I am about to tell you except that they happened on the same day.
You're welcome for having no consistency in my writing patterns.
After the farmers market, we headed to Lowe's to pick up a grill for Stuart's brother. After all, we did have five pounds of pastured chicken that needed to be grilled. And without a grill...well, the chicken wasn't going to be cooked for dinner. So we zoomed over to Lowe's and began to load Justin's new grill into the back of our X-Terra. In order to accommodate the awkward grill, we had to move Georgia's car seat over to Justin's car for the ride home.
As we pulled out of the parking lot, we saw Justin waving us down.
Where's the car seat, Stu?
What do you mean? It's in the back of your Honda.
No it's not. There's no car seat back there.
Say whaaaaaat?
Turns out, my friends, when Stuart moved the car seat to Justin's Honda....it wasn't actually Justin's Honda. It was another Honda that was parked on the other side of us.
Yes, that means that at one point, on both sides of our X-Terra, there were two golden Hondas parked.
And instead of putting the car seat in the Honda on the right, Stuart accidentally put the car seat in the Honda on the left (which just happened to be unlocked).
By the time we had loaded the grill and realized our unique situation, the other Honda had driven away...
...never to be seen again.
We were stranded. In the Lowe's parking lot. With no car seat.
I cannot imagine what the owner of the second golden Honda thought when they turned around and realized a car seat had been strapped into their back seat. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure they rode off with a few extra cheese crackers and raisins that were stuck to the side of the car seat as well.
Maybe the Lord knew they needed a car seat...
What do you think? No really...I want to know!
If you had to come up with a story for the second-golden-Honda-owner, what would it be? He he. I'd love to have a little friendly story competition in the comments section!
My Father-In-Law assures me the second-golden-Honda-owner is a very old, semi-crazy lady who will soon be strapping her cats into the car seat, all the while pretending they are young children and fitting them into knitted Christmas sweaters.
Which I suppose is a possibility.
My friend Natali often reminds me that everything is either a good time or a good story later. I suppose the runaway car seat could be a considered a bit of both. As sad as I was at the loss of our car seat, I was so thankful our baby wasn't in it as the second-golden-Honda-owner drove off. Can you even imagine. Seriously. It makes me want to vomit thinking about it.
A car seat is replaceable.
My little curly-haired munchkin is not.
And because I know you have nothing better to do today, I think it's time for you to stretch your writing-legs and fill this comments section up with a bit of where you think who you think the new owner of our car seat is and where it will continue it's journey.
Will it find it's way to a thrift-store shelf?
Will it find a needy home?
Will it be thrown out with Wednesdays trash?
Will it seriously confuse the second-golden-Honda-owner into wondering if they had a child they forgot about?
Tee hee.
Life happens. All you can do is cry one tear. And then laugh it off.
Good thing I was not drinking anything because I busted out laughing and water would have gone everywhere! This story will be told for many years to come! Did you tell the store in case they return the car seat? If my husband came home with a car seat I would be like "Is there something you forgot to tell me?" If I came home with the car seat I think I would be deeply disturbed on many levels. That would be too confusing for me to comprehend.
ReplyDeleteI think the golden Honda belonged to a man- because face it, us ladies do not go Lowes all that often. And I think a lady might notice if there were a strange car seat in the back of her car. But all those matters aside, I think the man drove off, glanced in the rear-view mirror, and decided to drive directly to, and check himself into a mental hospital. The End :)
ReplyDeleteI was waiting to make sure that #1: your daughter was not in the car seat. And #2 why were you driving away without your daughter, or buckling her in? I didnt understand. But our neighbor had someone leave a pressure cooker/canner in the back of his truck once, years ago, and they still tell the story. I like to think that that car seat ended up in the car of a couple struggling with infertility, praying for God to give them a sign that they could have children. How amazing.
ReplyDeleteIf it was a Honda, I'm guessing it belonged to a family. It was probably just the dad--but a dad who, along with his wife, is expecting a baby. A car seat was the one thing they didn't have yet, and when he got home, he discovered the car seat in the back of his van. He was extremely confused, but he brought the seat in to show his wife, who was also confused but very pleased. Stu's mistake will very much bless another family. :)
ReplyDeleteMy guess is it was some young guy. When he drove off and saw the car seat immediately said, "what the he#$?" And then called to see if his friends were playing a practical joke on him. How many adults leave their car unlocked?
ReplyDeleteHow funny! I agree with the first comment -- check with Lowe's. Someone may turn in the car seat, then you don't have to explain the extra expense to Dang Dave ... or whoever the budget guy is. But this really does have the potential for a funny side that you will never hear.
ReplyDeleteI believe the owner of the Golden Honda is a new Grandma going to Lowes to buy everything possible to baby proof her home for this new infant. While in Lowes she gets the call that her daughter is in labor! She runs to the car flinging approximately 10 bags of useless things into the backseat and rushes to the hospital. Days later she returns home to baby proof the house. After unloading the car and installing every piece of plastic possible she gets back in the car to go see her precious grandson before they go home from the hospital. Seeing the toddler-sized car seat in the back of her car she calls her son-in-law in a panic saying, "Thank you for installing a car seat in my car for me but you do realize your infant needs a much smaller car seat than the one you gave me!" To which the son-in-law replies, "Mom, I did not give you a car seat..." The End.
ReplyDeleteI think the carseat will begin its journey around the world. The owner of the Alternate Golden Honda (AGH) will find Another Unlocked Vehicle in which to install the carseat, and then the driver of the AUV will pass on the love, etc.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, you should post all over the NC Craigslist to see if it turns up anything!
The Alternate Golden Honda (AGH) was owned by a young man buying some hardware to build a toddler bed for his little one. His mother-in-law (MIL) was keeping an eye out for a used toddler size carseat for under $20, so he thought it was from her. He swung by her nearby work and slipped $20 in through her window and went home. Later, MIL was surprised to find $20 and put it in her pocket. It accidently got washed and stuck in the dryer at the laundromat. A young college couple was so broke, they were considering another payday loan just so they could eat until pay day. Imagine their good fortune finding $20 in the dryer. This covered a good sized sack of groceries, and they were able to break the cycle of payday loans, which changed their future for the better. They eventually became quite wealthy and started a scholarship fund with some of their excesses. Years later, Georgia qualified for moneys to help with her education from their scholarship fund. She earned a degree in the healing arts and went on to help thousands be well. The end.
ReplyDeletebrenda from ar
I think the owner of the car saw the carseat and seriously panicked for a few minutes thinking they had driven away in the wrong car LOL
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