A Christmas Wreck.... That Turned Out To Be A Miracle

On Christmas Day, a friend of my daughter's from law school, was on her way back to Dallas after having a family Christmas in New Mexico, when they met up with an 18 wheeler gone awry. They were just outside of Pecos, Texas (home of the infamous Billy Sol Estes AND Pecos Cantaloupes) and SD's friend was in the back seat of her own car (a Ford Edge), her mom was driving, and her grandmother was sitting shotgun. Her mom saw that the 18 wheeler was crossing the median, headed straight for them, so she edged over toward the right side of the 4 lane I-20. To her horror, the 18 wheeler, followed suit. That was when the crash ensued.

Both of their front seat airbags had been released and the front end was horrifically smashed in. It truly gave me the creeps when I saw it.  I still can't believe they survived such a crash. It was truly a Christmas Miracle.

At any rate, when SD called me about retrieving the things they left behind in their car, I was more than willing to help them out after such a frightening ordeal. Once the family had faxed a release to the wrecker service, for me to collect their belongings, I was on the road, headed towards Pecos, Texas and my mission. 

I can't believe I forgot to take my camera, but I did. Anyhoo, Pecos, Texas is seriously the most bleak place I've ever been, so I'm sorry I can't show you that. But, trust me, it is. Look it up on Google Earth but be careful, your eyes might bleed from the sight. However, it is one of the richest oil fields I've ever seen. Reeves County, Texas. Flat lands. Mesquite bush. Desolate. Pump Jacks everywhere. Plentiful oil & gas. Life is full of little trade-offs, isn't it?

After signing the necessary papers & showing my ID, I was allowed to proceed to the lot where the car had been safely guarded since Christmas day.

I took surgical gloves and a large plastic garbage bag with me, just for good measure, which turned out to be a brilliant idea. There was a lot more left behind than I was led to believe, but they were all in shock at the time they left the car there, so of course, they are excused. It took almost 30 minutes to get everything out of their car and loaded into mine.

About the time I had almost everything transferred, a huge BEE started buzzing around the open door of their car and I was too impatient to wait, so I ran over & kicked the door shut with my foot. I was sure I'd trapped him in the wrecked car so I wasn't going to take anything more. I turned around to run to my car, slamming doors as I went. Got around to my side of the car and there is that damn bee hovering over the driver's side. I'm not sure what aroma enticed him the most... eau du barf or the dog smells, but he was after what I had now transferred to my car.

Anyone who has known me 5 minutes knows about my rather insane fear of wasps, bees, hornets, etc. I usually scream squeal loudly while running around waving my arms when confronting one. It's not a pretty sight, trust me. Luckily, I had an audience of 2 guys who were depositing another wrecked car in the lot. I think they were pretty entertained by my *Bee Act* but they didn't exactly offer to help me either. Perhaps I looked a bit strange with my blue surgical gloves on.

So, after about ten minutes of stress and worry about the bee hiding in the car, I was thoroughly convinced that he would hide and wait until I got back on the road. Sure. I was convinced he'd wait until I hit the 80 mph speed limit, then he'd stick me with his evil stinger, I would freak out, and then my car would be the next victim on the back lot, probably taking others with me. However, it was getting colder and the wind was blowing so I decided to put my Big Girl Panties on and tough it out. He could only sting me once, right?

My plan was simple enough. Race to get in the car. Slam the door. Listen. With my hand on the door handle. Just in case. If a minute went by and I didn't hear any buzzing, I felt sure I'd be good to go. The only thing I didn't plan on was the smell with all windows up. Dear. Lord. I drove all the way back (about 2 hours) with the air on high and nearly froze to death. Guess I wasn't brilliant enough to bring Lysol spray on my rescue mission.

Amazingly, I made it back home alive, but fretted about it nearly the entire drive. What the heck was a BEE doing out and about in cold weather? I thought they hibernated or something. Yet another Christmas miracle...