Looking back

I stopped at the Post office today and ran back to the car just in time to avoid (another) parking ticket. As I started the car, I realized I was in the very same parking place where I had another car issue several years ago. Remembering it today made me laugh as I was driving home.

A few years back I went into in the post office with Maggie. Brisco (the wonder dog) was with us and waited for us in the car. We were gone only a few minutes but when we returned I could not get the wheelchair lift to open on the van. It did not make any sense; we had just left it 3 minutes before. I tried every trick I knew, but the thing was stuck and there was no way we were going to get that chair back into the car.

Fortunately, the post office is not far from home, it is maybe ½ to ¾ of a mile northeast of here. If one walks west and then south, it is virtually flat so it is an easy walk. However, if one walks south and then west one has to head up a very steep hill. In fact, “Lone Mountain” college (now part of the University of San Francisco) is just up that hill. The name ought to give you a clue about the quick elevation change.

I did not have a leash for the dog, but he is very good off leash and that did not concern me. Even if a cop approached me for violating the leash law (which has NEVER happened), I was pretty sure my tale of woe and my daughter in the wheelchair would prevent a ticket.

We were parked just East of the post office, so we had to walk by it to access the flat route home. Of course, it is a POST OFFICE and there are several uniformed letter carriers milling about. Brisco is perhaps the greatest dog alive, but he is a dog. And he dislikes letter carriers. And I still did not have a leash.

We had no choice but to head up the very steep hill. I have to tell you pushing a wheelchair up a steep hill is not easy; in fact, the only thing harder is trying to control it going down a steep hill. And this hill has a rapid (steep) vertical rise. I was pushing at about a 45-degree angle with my arms stretched out above my head. We were a sight, I tell you. My cell phone rang but there was no way I could let go of the chair to answer it. When we arrived at the top, I was completely out of breath. Maggie was laughing and Brisco was wagging his tail because the park was now in sight. I checked the phone and it was Steve just checking in.

I called him back and told him my sad, but ridiculous, story. He was asking a million questions about the problem with the car but I could not answer any of them. I did not know what was wrong and I had other things to deal with because just then it started to rain. Not too much, but it was the huge drops warning of an impending downpour. Now Maggie was laughing so hard she was hardly breathing. Brisco was still eying the park and I was calculating how fast we could get home. We made it without any more drama.

When the nurse arrived I walked back to the car to figure out what was wrong and what to do about it. Brisco came with me – this time on the leash. As soon as I arrived, I saw that the lift was wedged behind the front seat, which for some reason was slightly reclined. It took me about 10 seconds to fix it.

A frustrating day, but a fun memory.