Wisdom Wednesday: in which I share a tiny pearl of Wiggins Wisdom.*

I took Hannah to school this morning like I do every morning. But this morning was different because I decided to drive the car instead of the van because the van smells like something died inside of it about a year ago and no one bothered to remove the dead body so it’s just been rotting in there and slowly contaminating every particle of air and matter within the steel cage of the minivan.

How bad does it stink?

It stinks so bad that after riding in it for 5 minutes on the way to church last Wednesday evening my friend Amy thought she had gotten alpaca urine all over her shoes when she sat down beside me (they raise alpaca). I was too embarrassed to say, “No, it’s me. That’s the aroma of my clothing and backpack after riding in my van for 5 minutes.”

But at least now I know what to call the smell — alpaca pee. My van smells like a herd of alpaca took it for a free-the-pee joy ride.

(Actually, the recent thunderstorms proved too much for my poor van’s doors, and they leaked. So what I’m dealing with is water odor/damage. It’s so gross.)

Anyway…what was I writing about????

OH! So, I took Hannah to school in the car. Driving the car meant that I grabbed a different set of keys. Grabbing a different set of keys meant that I didn’t have a house key. Not having a house key meant that when I returned home I could not enter my house. Not being able to enter my house left me with 2 choices: 1) knock on the windows until a kid woke up and let me in, or 2) sit on the patio and wait patiently for a kid to wake up and let me in.

Option #2 was most appealing because, at the time, all of our neighbors were outside. No joke! Across the street, a neighbor was sweeping her driveway. Next door, our neighbors were preparing to go to work or just doing some other stuff outside. I don’t really know because I was too busy trying to play-it-cool as I walked around to the back of the house after knocking on the kitchen door a few times. Can you say, “fear of man?”

Since the weather has been so pleasant, I’ve taken to sitting outside in the mornings while I drink my coffee, listen to a sermon podcast, and read/ponder/pray. I had my iPhone with me, so I just proceeded with my morning ritual, but without my coffee.

During that time, a box turtle stopped by for a visit,

a hummingbird buzzed by for some nourishment at our feeders, the neighborhood hawk swooped through the trees (no pictures of my last 2 visitors as they moved too swiftly), and I finally passed level 23 in the Candy Crush Saga.

And it began to rain…

Though you can only see one drop of rain in this picture, I assure you that it had about a bazillion friends. I pulled my chair up to the patio table as close as I could in order to minimize my soaking. It was just a pleasant shower, and I didn’t get too wet.

Only a short time passed before Abbey walked outside to wish me a good morning. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my being stuck outside, I didn’t waste any time making my coffee.

So, my small bit of wisdom is this: make sure you have all the keys you need before you close the door.

I’m hoping that next week I’ll be able to share my wisdom for removing the scent of alpaca urine from a vehicle.

*I’m using this term loosely