Fork

When I was in seminary, a certain professor, with whom I spent quite a bit of time thinking about writing, went on a small rant (rant-let?) about a grammatical pet peeve. He (and most of the folks gathered for Writing Boot Camp that day) found it especially frustrating when people use the word "literally" but actually mean "figuratively." For example... if there is a terrible storm outside, and someone comes in drenched and exclaims "It is literally raining cats & dogs out there!" Unless that person is drenched in dog hair and kitty fur, then they are using the word literally incorrectly.

So, AKMA, I thought of you when, yesterday on Luke's birthday, I literally came to a fork in the road.

No, really.

We were driving out of our complex, running late for birthday lunch and birthday IKEA run, when my back passenger tire starting going "THWAP! THWAP! THWAP!" I was pretty sure I'd blown a tire, but the steering wheel didn't jolt or anything. So, we slowly and carefully drove around the block into another driveway. Luke got out to inspect the strange noise.

I ran over a fork. The tines were jammed into the tire, and the handle was bent back, now curved to match the shape of the wheel. The noise was the metal hitting the pavement. Since we are fortunate enough to have two cars, we drove home, switched cars, and continued with our plans for the day. All told, the delay was only an hour or so.

After meals and visits and shopping, we came home, and stopped into Meijer to deposit a couple checks before we go on vacation today. While Luke was at the ATM, I was listening to the store music. The song was - I kid you not - GreenDay's Time of Your Life.

"Another turning point
A fork stuck in the road..."


We're off. Feliz navidad y espero año felicidad.