GRABBING THE AIR CONDITIONER COVER M, 3-13-17

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith from the Heart of Winter for the Years of Winter… ©

GRABBING THE AIR CONDITIONER COVER         M, 3-13-17

I was walking last week on one of those exceptionally windy days. As I turned the corner onto Waterloo Court, I was met with a hurtling air conditioner cover, one of those gray plastic cube tarps, about 3 feet by 4 feet on each side, except for the open side. It was light weight, and the wind was behind it, coming right at me, right down the sidewalk, faster than a car would drive on that particular street.

What to do? There is not a lot of traffic on Waterloo, quite a bit more on the street behind me. What if the cover blew onto a car and blinded the driver? What if it blew onto a badger and smothered it? What if it covered our rural mail box and we got no catalogs of unnecessary things and no requests for money from worthy organizations?

I did the only logical thing. I grabbed it.

It was too big to fold, illegal to take home. So, remembering how Jesus said, “I was naked and you clothed me,” I took it to the nearest naked air conditioner and wrestled it on. It didn’t quite fit, which makes me think it didn’t belong there.

I could have knocked on all the doors, gotten people out of bed, asked if they were missing an air conditioner cover, but that seemed a bit untoward. Anyone to whom the cover did not belong would be unhappy at such an intrusion, and I am new to the neighborhood. I don’t need enemies yet. And perhaps even the cover’s owners had become disillusioned with it and turned it loose and would be unhappy with its return and its returner. Besides, the wind was strong enough it might have come from a long way off, like Nebraska.

I’m not sure if there is a moral or a point to this story, except that sometimes, instead of the brass ring, you just have to grab for the air conditioner cover.

JRMcF

johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com

I tweet as yooper1721.