Me ‘n Jim have done some Really Dumb Things in our lives, mostly out of ignorance. Here are two choice ones:
Number One:
We got a dog. A man up the street raised German Shepherds and had a 6-monther he wanted to get rid of. We and our three young kids were living in the Parsonage, and a dog sparked interest.
We named him Beowulf after an Old English epic poem. The name seemed to fit.
Sounds good so far. But the dog was terrified, Rachel was terrified, and it took a while for everyone to settle in. Which we did. I have this marvelous photo of Lee’s head resting on the sleeping dog—if I could only find it.
Beowulf, however, was not friendly to strangers, and a parsonage has frequent visitors. The only person he greeted with great passion was the former owner, who occasionally “borrowed” this beautiful dog for breeding purposes. Beowulf knew which side his bread was buttered!
I knew nothing about training dogs, and my vain attempts belong under my Regular Dumb Things list. I did everything wrong, and everyone pretty much hated the dog.
We had him roughly 4 years before bones started breaking. First one leg, then the second. We were sad to say goodbye to this “friend,” but life did become easier.
Number Two:
We bought a travel trailer—roughly 23 feet long. Camping here and there
sounded great. We took it to a friend’s place in Maine (getting lost on hilly roads enroute) and camped once at a park. Okay, the travel part was off-putting, but having some conveniences at our Vermont woodland sounded good. Our far-distant spring provided “running” water when carried to the tank, plus the workable bathroom required a modest septic hole. And then mice that soiled tableware and chewed blankets….
By God’s grace, we were able to give the trailer to a dealer who eventually sold it.
Lessons learned, but we also learned the art of Living in and Trusting God—handy for challenges that come with old age.
Bonus—#3—We climbed a MOUNTAIN (my very first) on our honeymoon! It did NOT go well.
Any dumb things you’re willing to share? Describe below, or email jegust@comcast.net
I’m afraid the list would crash your website!
you are too funny Sir!
Oh lets see – how about just the top three.
First… as new Christian I forgot that it was God’s job to convert souls for redemption. I would carry around a comparison Bible and “Confront People” into why they needed Jesus.
Oh Boy – the one closest to me bore the brunt of this silliness and I have spent much of our 40 years of marriage seeking to make amends for the first two very difficult years 🙁
Then . . . well see below . . .
Last . . . was the time . . .
– I will let God tell these silly human conditions – once we are safe in His presence for an eternity .
Love to Ellie and Jim!!
Charlie
Thank you for these stories! We have done #1, he turns 7 in a week 🤪🤪
Are you still on speaking terms with him after 7 YEARS?? I wish you well!!! 🙂
I took in a recue Australian Cattle dog. Not the best idea. Like Beowulf, Oscar doesn’t want anyone near me or walk or park by my house. Anytime someone comes to visit I have to lock him in his crate in the back room. He doesn’t stop barking until company leaves. I’ve had him for 5 years and he’s 7 now.
We adopted a demented calico kitty who had every bad habit in the book. We loved Lily for 18 years and got nothing in return but shredded furniture and a prolonged exercise in unconditional love.
The only dumb thing that I really regret is leaving a big kettle of beef stew on a picnic table in Baxter State Park after the skies opened up. Thinking it was just a brief downpour, we huddled in our camper van and fell asleep. Sometime in the night we heard the bears arrive, and all I could think about was the people in flimsy pup tents all around us. In the morning, someone found the heavy pot licked clean, but no one in the campground recognized it as theirs. Including us!
Then there was the time I grabbed a can of hairspray and used it before I realized it was Niagara spray starch!
I’m still laughing!!! Your stories are something else, and the hairspray tops them off! Thanks, Sue! : )
Hi Ellie
I have a good one for you that I did just a few days ago after a snowstorm. I caused $1000.00 + damage to my car out of a habit that I must pay more attention to.
I was backing my car out of the garage and bumped into my husband’s truck. As you can imagine I was moving slowly and was very surprised when I felt the thump. Gary had left his truck about a foot into my path of backing out of the garage. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I checked out the damage. I have a fairly new car and wouldn’t expect such a mess that was caused by barely moving.
My assessment of the damage revealed to me that cars must be made of recycled plastic and aluminum !
Now, that is stupid too !
Sherry D.
Best not to look at what things are made of, these days! Even a little bump is costly!
Maybe you only had the dog 4 years, but I imagine you had the blue and white van a long time. It sure looks familiar to me. How long did it last?
The van may have been ours, but more likely Jim’s sister and bro-in-law. We copied them a LOT! And we ran all of our vans right into the ground. Not much left of them after we got through!
Ellie, I remember Beowulf. Rachel wasn’t the only one terrified of him, I was too!
That’s so cool, Barbara! There aren’t many people still around who would remember Beowulf!
Such fun to read your Blog this afternoon. Almost as good as setting in the Living room drinking Tea and listening to Jim and John telling their stories. I miss those visits.
Betty, we’ll experience those wonderful visits AGAIN, where friendships never die! Thanks for your love and all that tea!
Oh yeh! I forgot the DUMBEST thing I ever did. I use eyedrops everyday that are in a tiny bottle. Unfortunately, so do my ear wax drops. I probably put 2 drops when the burning hit me! I ran for the bathroom sink and washed it out but not in time to stop the pain. Fortunately it didn’t cause permanent damage.
Carolyn, have you considered two VERY LARGE labels? Or train your dog to warn you! : )
You want least to greatest? Or greatest (marrying the wrong person before I was even grown up) to the least (putting a nice pot of carrots on the stove and walking away) Blackened remains from BOTH “dumb things”!
But I’m reminded of an old comedy routine by Archie Campbell 35 years ago. It begins:
Archie: Hey I guess you heard about my terrible misfortune.
Roy: No, what happened?
Archie: Yeah, my great uncle died.
Roy: Oh that’s bad!
Archie: No that’s good!
Roy: How come?
Archie: Well, when he died, he left me 50,000 dollars
Roy: Oh that’s good!
Archie: No that’s bad!….
and ends with:
Archie: Well I was in the hospital there for a while and I took a turn for the nurse.
Roy: That’s bad
Archie: No that’s good
Roy: How come?
Archie: Well my wife came in one day and caught me kissing this nurse
Oh that’s bad
No that’s good
She said if that was the way I was gonna act I could have that pretty nurse, she was gonna pack her clothes and go back home to momma.
Roy: Oh that’s good
Archie: You’re dern right that’s good.
I’ll leave you to decide the moral of the story.
Oh, I do the blackened pot quite often! My small Revere Ware pan has lost most of its copper, ranging from multiple mishaps—like sterilizing rubber baby-bottle nipples 65 years ago, to forgetting rice just recently. Well-made cookware never dies! The Archie story is a good laugh, too! Thanks, Marcia!
Excellent stories, Ellie! Very timely for me on this very day…..
I was busy trying to make a cheesecake for Chuck and his buddies whom invited over ( Chuck lives here….his buddies are the ones invited🤪). It was going well until I began to pour the cheesecake mixture into the springform pan. Within seconds it began to leak out of the bottom of my baking pan and cover my counters! Investigating the area of leakage, showed that the latch to secure the metal top to the bottom of the springform glass dish had not been securely tightened….now, who used that pan last 🤭?
To make matters worse, I decided to make my own graham cracker crumbs for the crust. I put them into a very powerful blender and turned it on. Guess who forgot to put the lid on before turning on the power????
I now need to wash my hair after I clean the floor.
Love you my friend!
Cheesecake with a graham-cracker crust! I’m drooling and hoping you did persevere, to the point of actually eating some cheesecake! Do you put cinnamon in the g-c crumbs? REALLY good! Thanks for adding to the laugh bucket! Love you back!
Hey Ellie, Happy Birthday! I really enjoyed your February Blog. It really brightened my day. I have done some pretty dumb things myself in my 70 years. Just wanted to let you know that I am still out here! Love you, Kathy
Thanks so much, Kathy! I’ve gotten a surprising number of responses to a blog I figured would be a little lonely. It’s so heartening to find that I’m not alone in doing dumb things. Love you back!