All humanity is lost! We’ve become a decadent self-centered society who could barely give a damn about anyone else (unless someone else is watching and it becomes publicly expedient)! What brings on this tirade? Today I had an appointment with my OB. I think I’ve mentioned in previous entries that my doc’s office is roughly 45 mins away. I stuck with my OB because I know, love and trust him. So all my doc appointments are out in Gaithersburg and my delivery will be too.
So, I’m off the doc on this fine morning. There is a beautiful drive through Rock Creek Park that I like to take that ends just a bit before I reach the highway. However, today that drive was not so nice! There is a severe wind advisory out with gusts up to 40 mph. The drive on Beach drive through Rock Creek Park proved to be a gauntlet! Trees were down everywhere and falling all around me! Just as I’m making it to the end of Rock Creek, just before the road starts to widen a bit a giant tree limb, easily a foot in diameter and roughly 4 feet long falls directly in front of the car. I slam on the breaks to avoid it hitting the car, but I didn’t quite stop fast enough as I still managed to roll over the limb and get it lodged under the car. I could hear it scraping and smell it burning. I pulled to the side of the road as best I could – there is really no shoulder on this road. Meanwhile, the jerk behind me has the nerve to honk frantically at me and rips around me with screeching tires as he passes and takes off. I look for more traffic and wait while 4 more cars drive past. Nice, very neighborly.
I get out and go to the front of the car and look under to see this enormous tree branch (tree TRUNK! is more like it) lodged under the car. I can’t reach it from the front. More cars come around the bend and honk at me as they pass…really…what the hell was going on?! There is no shoulder, I’m over as far as I can get, hazard lights on and I can’t pull into the grass because the ground drops off. I go to the passenger side of the car to see if I can reach the tree branch from there. Let me remind you I’m a VERY LARGE 7 months pregnant, getting up and down is a challenge let alone getting the strength and ability to reach under a car to pull out a lodged tree TRUNK! I can’t reach it from the passenger side. More cars pass, more honking. I’m close to tears.
I try calling my husband to get him to look up a number of whoever you call to get tree trunks dislodged from under your car. He doesn’t answer…probably in the basement playing with our son. Now I am crying as yet even more cars honk and pass me by. It’s freezing outside, but I decide if someone drives by and sees that I’m pregnant they might stop to help. Since just being a stranded woman in the woods didn’t seem to work. I take the coat off, thinking it was just making me look fat rather than pregnant. The empire waisted sweater I had on definitely showed my condition off very well. I carefully approach the driver’s side of the car watching for cars in both directions…since the road is so narrow I was risking getting hit by either side. I crouch down to look and of course lose my balance and fall over. I cry some more. NOW….it starts to SLEET! Just then a car comes around the bend behind me…is he slowing? Oh thank god…yes…he’s slowing down but not to help me, he slowed just to look at me crawling off the ground and speeds off - yes, he actually had to drive over in the opposing traffic lane to get around and pass me. WHAT THE HELL?!!!!!!!! I’m just a miserable crying mess at this point.
I can hear more cars coming as I am making my way off the ground and around to the front of the car. The front car was coming around the bend so fast that he had to slam on his breaks and slid to a stop behind me. He honks, and honks and honks… Does he want me to move my car?! Does he think I’ve stopped here just to check out the scenery?! He throws his car in reverse, throws it in drive (I say throw because I can see his car lunging forward with the gear shifts) and tears around me; and takes the time to roll down his window to scream something inaudible at me! I had had it…I scream back, give him the bird and yell “thanks for helping the pregnant woman stranded on the side of the road!!!!”.
I’m beyond feeling sorry for myself at this point and wait while more cars pass, then I sit on my butt on the ground on the drivers side again and, ignoring the sharp sheering pains shooting up my stomach, I kick and kick and kick at the tree stump until I feel it loosen – then, ignoring even more pain, I get on my stomach (God did it hurt) and yank the tree trunk out. I hear a car coming…god, he can’t see me, I think. I jump up as fast as my giant, pregnant belly will allow, leaving the tree stump. The car passes me; I think to myself…Karma better exist and it better bight these people on the ass! I get back down on the ground and yank the stump out. I drag it off the road and wait while even more cars pass. I get in the car and cry in relief! I would guess that roughly 20 to 30 cars passed me this morning. Not a single soul stopped to ask if I was OK! I made it to my doc appointment 30 mins late, disheveled and dirty and got an extra thorough going-over when I told the nurse about my morning. She got a shorter version than this.
I sure hope none of you would ever pass up a pregnant woman stranded on the road….and if any of you were the ones passing me by this morning…. I take solace that you will get yours!!!
So, I’m off the doc on this fine morning. There is a beautiful drive through Rock Creek Park that I like to take that ends just a bit before I reach the highway. However, today that drive was not so nice! There is a severe wind advisory out with gusts up to 40 mph. The drive on Beach drive through Rock Creek Park proved to be a gauntlet! Trees were down everywhere and falling all around me! Just as I’m making it to the end of Rock Creek, just before the road starts to widen a bit a giant tree limb, easily a foot in diameter and roughly 4 feet long falls directly in front of the car. I slam on the breaks to avoid it hitting the car, but I didn’t quite stop fast enough as I still managed to roll over the limb and get it lodged under the car. I could hear it scraping and smell it burning. I pulled to the side of the road as best I could – there is really no shoulder on this road. Meanwhile, the jerk behind me has the nerve to honk frantically at me and rips around me with screeching tires as he passes and takes off. I look for more traffic and wait while 4 more cars drive past. Nice, very neighborly.
I get out and go to the front of the car and look under to see this enormous tree branch (tree TRUNK! is more like it) lodged under the car. I can’t reach it from the front. More cars come around the bend and honk at me as they pass…really…what the hell was going on?! There is no shoulder, I’m over as far as I can get, hazard lights on and I can’t pull into the grass because the ground drops off. I go to the passenger side of the car to see if I can reach the tree branch from there. Let me remind you I’m a VERY LARGE 7 months pregnant, getting up and down is a challenge let alone getting the strength and ability to reach under a car to pull out a lodged tree TRUNK! I can’t reach it from the passenger side. More cars pass, more honking. I’m close to tears.
I try calling my husband to get him to look up a number of whoever you call to get tree trunks dislodged from under your car. He doesn’t answer…probably in the basement playing with our son. Now I am crying as yet even more cars honk and pass me by. It’s freezing outside, but I decide if someone drives by and sees that I’m pregnant they might stop to help. Since just being a stranded woman in the woods didn’t seem to work. I take the coat off, thinking it was just making me look fat rather than pregnant. The empire waisted sweater I had on definitely showed my condition off very well. I carefully approach the driver’s side of the car watching for cars in both directions…since the road is so narrow I was risking getting hit by either side. I crouch down to look and of course lose my balance and fall over. I cry some more. NOW….it starts to SLEET! Just then a car comes around the bend behind me…is he slowing? Oh thank god…yes…he’s slowing down but not to help me, he slowed just to look at me crawling off the ground and speeds off - yes, he actually had to drive over in the opposing traffic lane to get around and pass me. WHAT THE HELL?!!!!!!!! I’m just a miserable crying mess at this point.
I can hear more cars coming as I am making my way off the ground and around to the front of the car. The front car was coming around the bend so fast that he had to slam on his breaks and slid to a stop behind me. He honks, and honks and honks… Does he want me to move my car?! Does he think I’ve stopped here just to check out the scenery?! He throws his car in reverse, throws it in drive (I say throw because I can see his car lunging forward with the gear shifts) and tears around me; and takes the time to roll down his window to scream something inaudible at me! I had had it…I scream back, give him the bird and yell “thanks for helping the pregnant woman stranded on the side of the road!!!!”.
I’m beyond feeling sorry for myself at this point and wait while more cars pass, then I sit on my butt on the ground on the drivers side again and, ignoring the sharp sheering pains shooting up my stomach, I kick and kick and kick at the tree stump until I feel it loosen – then, ignoring even more pain, I get on my stomach (God did it hurt) and yank the tree trunk out. I hear a car coming…god, he can’t see me, I think. I jump up as fast as my giant, pregnant belly will allow, leaving the tree stump. The car passes me; I think to myself…Karma better exist and it better bight these people on the ass! I get back down on the ground and yank the stump out. I drag it off the road and wait while even more cars pass. I get in the car and cry in relief! I would guess that roughly 20 to 30 cars passed me this morning. Not a single soul stopped to ask if I was OK! I made it to my doc appointment 30 mins late, disheveled and dirty and got an extra thorough going-over when I told the nurse about my morning. She got a shorter version than this.
I sure hope none of you would ever pass up a pregnant woman stranded on the road….and if any of you were the ones passing me by this morning…. I take solace that you will get yours!!!
The picture above of Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park I retrieved from a Wikipedia article about Rock Creek Park.
think...he's not even 2 and has his opinions already. Then I hear it again, "hooooo....oohhh!!!" sucking in his breath again. This time he's pointing at a pair of PJs that has a very 1950s cowboy theme on it. I would NEVER have picked it out for him...but I'm guessing he likes the horses. I hold up one in his size again and say you want this? Da. ok, PJs purchased I move on.
