We're Idiots.

Several weeks ago, Scott and I headed outside to tackle the leaves. While Timmy, Robby and I grabbed our respective rakes, Scott hopped onto the lawnmower. As usual, the mower did not start and needed to be jumped.

It took several attempts to jump the mower, and when it started we were discouraged that it would not steer or move. Ugh! We were both frustrated that there was one more thing that was broken in our house, and I began to search for mower repair.

Last week the mower was finally picked up for repair. The repair shop called at the end of the week, informing me that we needed a new battery (which was not a surprise). When I asked about the steering issue I was informed that the steering was absolutely fine. Apparently the battery was too weak to run the power steering mechanism on the tractor. We were delighted that the expense was not high but now our frustrations were inward focused on own stupidity.

Saturday afternoon Robby and I headed downstairs to tidy up his museum. While Robby organized his collections of military artifacts, I got to work purging and cleaning the room. It was a herculean task because of the overwhelming clutter.

Several years ago we sustained a lightening strike that felled a giant tree and damaged several electronics inside the house. The first time I ventured downstairs after the strike I was dismayed to discover that none of the lights worked. We tried to call an electrician but, do to a series of cancellations, we finally gave up. We decided to locate a new professional, but the repair dropped off our priority list. Our once beautiful playroom quickly became a dark and dank catch-all.  We all avoided going downstairs, and the area soon became inhabited with assorted clutter and trash.

I don't know why I asked Robby to change a light bulb above the bookcase. I wasn't expecting it to work. In retrospect, I was motivated to move the electrician back to the top of our repair priority list. I was in shock when the light illuminated after it was replaced by Robby.

We continued to change all of the bulbs, and they all worked! Scott came downstairs and was gobsmacked with our brightly lit room. In unison, we looked at each other and declared "we're idiots." The grid was not damaged by the lightening, our bulbs were only blown. We had surrendered half of our home for years because we didn't change a light bulb.