The adventure of today needs to be told:
Rob and I got an early start today, heading up to Calais to run some errands, including picking up our order of seven pounds of local tofu (yum.). We swung by My Favorite Things, the store where I used to teach guitar and piano lessons and worked during the summer of 2008, to visit and introduce Olive. Melissa, the owner, was there, who excitedly picked out a little lime green dragonfly romper as a gift for her.
On our way home while driving through the little town of Robbinston, the car started making a worrisome sound; Rob pulled over and it was as I'd expected: a very flat front tire. Fortuately, thanks to some of my sister's recent mishaps with her van, I had the forethought to sign up for AAA, after all too many incidents where I wished I'd had it. While roadside assistance was not a problem, calling the 1-800 number sans cell phone was. Rather than wait for a motorist to stop and offer help, I began going door-to-door in search of a phone. The first two doors produced no answers. I walked down a hidden driveway guarded by young Siberian huskies. Two trucks sat in the driveway and the front door was open. I knocked and a toddler in a diaper saw me and screamed for his dad. A pleasant-looking woman opened the door and I explained our predicament. She welcomed me in with a delightfully - and foreign - southern accent. Texans! Just as good as North Carolina up in these parts. She handed me her iPhone and I made arrangements with the good people at Northern New England AAA. Rob and Olive joined us, and we waited it out with the couple, Amanda and Jeremy, and their darling, homeschooled brood - Jordan, Faith, Jeremiah (whom they called Bubba), and 8 month-old Beth. Our car was towed to the shop just up the road from their home, and Jeremy drove the three of us there. We really lucked out; we could've easily gotten a ride with a dim-witted redneck, or any number of sorts, but he was a great conversationalist, and we enjoyed his company. He'd make subtle references to Dumb and Dumber, a movie I find wildly hilarious. He also gave us some pretty good tips on how to train your children to not walk off with strangers - for example: don't have your child's name embroidered onto his backpack so predators can call him by name. Pearls of wisdom.
Upon our arrival at the garage, we were told that they didn't carry the tires we required, so
it was off to Calais again for the ones we needed. At the VIP auto parts store, the clerk happily reported that the tires we needed were inexpensive - wonderful! - and that they were in stock. As they loaded the tires into the back of Jeremy's SUV, they realized that only one of the tires was the correct one, sending them on a hunt for matching tires, to no avail. They then produced four other tires with a higher rating an gave us those for the cost of the others - cha-ching!
We arrived back at Brook's Garage to have them put on our tires, and in the lobby (that resembled more closely a dive bar-meets-landfill) they were giving away 6 week-old kittens. Adorable. Now Rob and I love kittens as much as anyone, but fortunately we have the good sense not to be seduced by the precious soundless mewing and pointy little tails. They were dear things, though. I returned to our chauffer to tell him the verdict (they needed to hang onto the car to work on the alignment - the cause of the tire wear), and mentioned the kittens within. He perked up: "They have kittens in there?!" he asked, excitedly. "Tomorrow's Amanda's birthday, and all she wants is a kitten!" It was a boy kitten she wanted specifically, and one out of the four was a boy - an especially fluffy gray guy with white paws. I'm a sucker for a little gray with white boots - I have one, myself. Jeremy came in and took a look, and we walked out with the sweet thing. On our way back to Eastport, since Jeremy was taking us back home, we stopped by their house so he could give his wife her early present. She was delighted, scooping him up into her hands. She asked me if I could think of a really cool name, and I gave her the first one that came into my mind. This cat's going to grow up to be a big, long-haired, handsome cat, and I said, "Cornelius". She loved it, and introduced him to her eager children.
So we all won on Tuesday. As we worked through our little scrape, we managed to meet a lovely family, get new tires and fix a problem we didn't know we had (oh - and a shopping bag full of really cute hand-me-downs that Amanda gave us for Olive, so we won't have to worry about outfitting her when this growth spurt is through), and brought a kitten and his new family together. I feel pretty good.
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