The Invitation

Yesterday Chris was having a few friends over to play cards. They play what I call ‘Hoof and Mouth.’ I don’t think that’s the real name, but I can remember it, so… Anyway it’s been raining lately, which sounds so lame compared to the Noah-esk deluges that have been falling, accompanied by active evidence of Seraphim and Cherubim (that’s Bible geek for Lightning and Thunder). The aforementioned card game gave me a deadline, which turned into a race to get the expanse mowed not only before the visitation but also to beat the next monsoon. I have a walk-behind mower, much to the dismay of anyone who hears of it. They get concerned and want to take an offering to get me a second hand ride mower. Why should I punish myself? More to their dismay, I inform them that I enjoy it. So, I was chasing the grass eating machine around the yard, sweating in the pre-deluge humidity and glancing at the growling clouds. When the rain came, we’d be bringing in the animals, two by two. I had to get the lawn mowed. A car pulled up to the curb, the driver waving at me with an envelope in her hand. She looked familiar, but it was hard to see through the deluge of sweat in my eyes. I shut off the mower and went over to her. “You look pooped.” I nodded. “Well, here’s your invitation, I hope you can come.” And off she went. I didn’t even look at it. Wasn’t time. I was on a deadline. Shoved the envelope in my back pocket and began chasing the mower again. I finished and ran the mower into the garage as a Cherubim slammed into my house, followed closely by the flash of a Seraphim and about 9 billion gallons of rain falling in 10 seconds. Timing is everything. I was in the house a few minutes when I remembered the invitation in my pocket. Chris opened it. A wedding in September. They’ve gotten to know us on our morning walks. She probably wants her invitation back after my bubbly speech of congratulations. Oh well, we’ll give them a nice gift. We’ll probably have to paddle to the church after we hack our way to the cars with a machete. The grass grows four feet a day when it rains like this. At least one yard’s mowed.