Going to bed at a decent hour has always been difficult for me. I hear that even as a baby, it was not easy to get me to sleep at night. When I was in high school and college, we lived in what was probably a very safe area . . not in the city but not in the country really. It seemed far from town back then but it wasn’t. We had close neighbors but we still had woods and undeveloped areas around us too. We locked the doors in our house and my car keys had a house key on them. My parents would go to bed at a reasonable hour and sometime around midnight, when I finally went to bed, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would remember . . my keys are in the car. Someone could take the car but worse, they could use the house key to get in and get us all. So I would go to mom and dad’s room and wake them up. Dad would have to get up and come watch me walk 10 steps out the door to my car to get my keys. That happened every night! There was much grumbling and I would promise to get them in the next night before they went to bed but I probably never did.
So, I have a history of disrupting everyone’s sleep.
My friend, Clifford, recently retired from working for the Texas prison system. Earlier this week, he told me that Vince and I needed to careful because two prisoners had escaped . . near San Antonio I believe. It’s a bit desolate out here and I’m normally not scared but I heard some extra sounds and was a bit uneasy about being way off in the garden by myself knowing these escapees were out there somewhere.
It was Tuesday night and we were getting lots of rain. Vince went to bed at a reasonable hour and I went to bed, very quietly, about midnight. Often, I think of things that cause me to have to get up a couple of times . . like . . are my keys still in the car? I had gone to town that day and couldn’t remember if I brought my purse inside. Yes, sometimes it’s in the car along with my keys! I got out of bed and my purse was in the house. Then I looked out the window to see how much rain was accumulating on the ground. We’re still a bit concerned about one spot on our driveway that may wash out when there’s a heavy rain.
When I looked out the window, there was a weird light in front of the pickup under the carport. I looked at it and couldn’t figure it out. My mind said . . prisoners with a lantern!
I woke Vince up . . which is never a good idea at that time of night.
Me: Vince! Vince! There’s a weird light in front of your pickup.
Vince: OK.
Me: What do you think it is?
Vince: No idea.
Me: Would you get up and look at it?
Vince: I am NOT going out in the rain.
Me: No . . just look out the window. I think you should see it.
Vince: (Maybe a few bad words!) but he did get up and look.
Me: What do you think it is?
Vince: What do YOU think it is?
Me: Could be 2 prisoners with a lantern.
Vince: It’s obviously LED lights.
Me: Could be 2 prisoners with an LED lantern. You know . . they do make those!
Vince: Yes . . we have some.
Me: Could be 2 prisoners with OUR LED lantern!
That’s the end of the story! He went back to bed. Vince had found some of those LED solar powered lights that you stick in the ground and he said he probably put them down on the table in front of the pickup. Last night, they were not lit but that may be because (1) the prisoners took them and moved on down the road or (2) there wasn’t enough sun yesterday to charge them.
The next morning, we had a discussion about when it is acceptable to wake Vince and make him get out of bed in the middle of the night and when it is NOT acceptable to wake him. I am quite sure he knows it will not be long before I wake him again for some goofy reason. Poor Vince!
Denise ~ justquiltin says
I’m still laughing — I love your justification that the escapees probably were making use of your LED lights. I think it was a perfectly acceptable reason to get him up.
Mary in VA says
I was expecting a story about chickens! Poor Vince – he needs his beauty sleep.
Helen Koenig1 says
Geesh! I thought at first that the two escapees were Miss Hattie and Mean chicken!!!! THEN I started reading! Egads!!!! Like you – I prowl – and the slightest sound either outside the house or on the edges of the house (ie, windows, doors, basement stairs) totally freaks me out! However since the ONLY companions here are Me, myself and I – none of us are willing to go check! Instead I usually find the baseball bat, sit up and read for a while (until I keel over with lack of sleep!). And yes – my house HAS been broken into WHILE I was home – twice! And after I moved into town, there were at least 3 attempts to open the painted shut windows in the dead of night – but those my dog went beserk on and chased whoever it was AWAY!!!!! So – now I sleep with a night light!
Pamela Johnson says
Judy, I LOVE this story…..reminds me of me !! I do go to bed at a reasonable hour, but I always imagine the worst…have had to wake my hubby up and he’s alot like Vince, does it really matter what is out there???? we are safe in here….unless those excapes did get my keys out of the car!! Hope you get better sleep tonight….and I hope they catch those 2 guys……I think they escaped from Sulphur Springs…which is NE of Dallas….unless there were 2 more down south!!
JudyL says
I think you’re right! That explains why all the news I was reading was coming out of Sulphur Springs. I guess the first thing I saw about it was a San Antonio station reporting it and that’s what made me think it was San Antonio.
Rhonda says
I am still laughing on the floor from this post. It’s not funny but is. OMG!
My mom had also heard about the escapees and was worried. I pointed out that she could use her Life Alert button & car key alarm to frighten anyone off. She wanted to borrow my shotgun which gave me a mental picture that did not bear thinking about.
Be safe my friend and think twice about waking hubby so late…..just kidding about that one!
Micki clemens says
Just too funny! I laughed out loud. Poor Vince! I literally sleep like the dead and you wouldn’t be Abe to wake me. Please don’t leave things in your car- its so dangerous !
Debbie Bailey says
Thanks for the laugh…I have those thoughts…I just am too afraid to let anyone else see how scared I am.
Alycia says
I am kinda thinking that you were justified…. I might have thought that too – and you always want a big strong man to protect you…. just let Vince know – he is THAT man 😉
karen says
I *love* this story. and your logic sounded perfectly reasonable to me. (My DH, who has to deal with me asking him to check the walk-in closet every night, would disagree!)
Gwen says
I hope you and Vince both slept better last night! I hope that they choose another direction but you never know. They escaped north and east of Dallas so maybe they headed north of the border rather than south.
Ranch Wife says
I’m laughing, but I’m not. I was just picturing you and Vince in a Keystone Cops scenario. But, seriously, these days you can’t be too careful, although I’m the worst example. I always leave my keys in the truck. If they want the truck, take it. Just leave us alone.I sleep so soundly that they could probably load up my bed and I would never know.
Susan says
Oh Judy, you can make me laugh so often! I could SO picture your conversation with Vince!
Pat says
Heck…I’d have done the same thing. AND…you might ask Vince how he’d have felt if it was the escapees and they’d managed to make off with his truck and you then told him AFTER THE FACT that you had seen some strange lights out there in the middle of the night but didn’t want to wake him? I’m with you…it’s better to be alert and check things out than to be sorry afterwards! (I hope they caught those two “bad guys”.)
Brandy M. says
hahahaha – this cracks me up!
I would have done the same thing. D doesn’t really complain, thankfully, but he might not get out of bed. If I say, however, “honey….. do you smell smoke?” he is out of bed faster than I can say “do you smell…?”
Hope the prisoners are caught, and SOON!
🙂
Kay L Ford-Sollimo says
I’m reading this at 5:15 AM (haven’t been to bed yet) so I can relate. The “Sollimo” comes from the name of my 1st generation, Sicilian ancestry, used-to-be husband (now deceased) so I can relate on that front as well. My vote is for better safe than sorry. My keys are always in the car, but the car is always parked in the locked garage. I’ve lived alone since the second of my two sons moved out 13 years ago. I suppose it is no coincidence that that is when my bedtimes started getting later and later. I do get a lot of computer and sewing jobs done though. I just cannot see wasting the time if I’m awake anyway. Stick to your guns, Judy – it could have been chicken rustlers!