All in a day’s … uh, adventure?

Day  began sunny…
did not eat Son’s apple pie
saved for his breakfast…
so far so good
polished up my photo post.
did some on-line banking–
no bills or pesky email.

Decided to go to town
and take care of some
tax and car plate sticker issues;
vendor’s license updated.
Got all gussied up…
which means blue sweater
and white pants…nifty!

Trotted out to the van
without locking the car keys
in the house…
shooed the cats away from the car
and started ‘er up.
Oh-oh, what is that red light?
“brakes” red light on–why?
what is this talk of brake fluid…
striking fear in my heart!

So all the good intentions
of doing those chores,
quickly forgotten in lieu
of limping to the garage.
Knights of Chivalry they are,
gave my sick van priority
and put ‘er up on the rack
oh! the indignity!

Twelve hundred dollars?
All   brake lines are bad?
Oh what will I do…poor maiden
(er, matron…) one step from the poor house?
Well…for now, just call in the Cavalry,
to take poetic license…son-in-law.
Oh dear…the road is torn up with
orange cones and barricades and
machines I can’t name,
and traffic is a bugaboo!

But in my sharpened sense
it seemed like a good plan
to cross the road (orange cones and all)
and walk to the Speedway
a few hundred feet down the road.
Stepping out with my usual flare,
it was but a moment when “bang!”
tripped and crashed to the sidewalk.

How clumsy can you be Milady?
Of course you will not be able to rise
from that hot pavement …
if I can just get to the grass…
but then as providence likes to have it
along came a chariot, with two old guys
in it –(what, you expected young knights?)
One of these gents helped Miss Clumsy
up from the grass, where she had
crawled unceremoniously off  the cement.

Did I want a ride to the Speedway?
Yes indeed…my faith in my ability
to cross several lanes of under-construction
roadway, and arriving across in one piece…
I was delivered safely to the gas station
where I went in and bought two more
of the lovely apple pies!

The moral of this tale, I suppose,
is that this lady is pressing her luck
falling flat on her face so often.
I DO appreciate my sturdy bones
inherited from Saxons and Vikings
and such sturdy folk…
But I will take heed and try to remain
in an upright position.

My poor car, alas, is dead…dangerous
to drive, brakes completely shot…
along with my ailing bank account.
But my heart is cheery, and not at all leery
that “all is lost…doomed!”
Never fear–I’ll think of something.-
I always do.

© Sometimes, 2016