Surreal or Preview?

Friday, 28 December dawned like this. It was the day of the most amazing experience. I visited Ed McKay’s Used Book store to exchange some books for a few CDs and DVDs in Raleigh. Mostly the trip was for just getting away from the computer for a day. And what better way to relax than being surrounded by books & such. Content with my exchange, I was driving home to Macon heading north on Hwy 401 in Wake County, NC.

Cruising along listening to an audio book, not a day to be in a hurry, when I heard a ‘pop’ and wondered if a stone had flipped up from the road to hit the car. I thought no more of it until I heard a soft thump, thump, thump. “Oh, no,” I thought. Here I am out in a rural area, knowing I had just blown a tire. Darn. At least I wasn’t flying down the road speeding.
I started to coast toward the side after clicking on the hazard lights. But the shoulder looked like it may be soft. Knowing I had most likely ruined the tire anyway, I crept up to a driveway where I could at least pull out of traffic.

Yup. It was a blowout. The tire looked mighty sad. ‘Darn,’ I thought again. I called Triple AAA on my cell phone, got the message asking for my ID number, hung up because I’d have to look for the card, yadda, yadda, yadda. I got out again noting the mail box number so I could also give them some kind of location. That’s when the mini-miracle began to happen.
Two young men came walking down the driveway with a weed trimmer in hand. Guess they were going to trim around the entrance to their property. Smiling, one fellow came over to check things out, sweet as could be. They invited me to pull up the driveway to their garage about 100 foot away.

Within minutes they had the tire off the rim and my spare off the back of my tracker, zip, zip went the power drill, bolts off, deed done, new tire on and old tire in the back of the car. It was surreal. I barely had time to pet the dog! It only took a few minutes! They wouldn’t accept any money but they each got a very hearty hug from me and they sure have my gratitude.
Those two darling men turned my day from becoming an awful one to a wonderful one. I would not have been shocked if I saw halos floating over their heads, but I did not. I did see two gentlemen in jeans that will be in my thankful prayers of gratitude tonight and many nights more.

I didn’t even get their names!

But I’ve had strange experiences like this before and I would not be surprised if we meet again in the future, that this was a mini introduction to something bigger. We’ll see.