You should have asked...

This article reminded me of a weird happening that occurred in my yard the day of my ordination. I have been meaning to blog about it, but kept forgetting about it.

Last fall, my then-fiancee was remodeling her bathroom. The old bathtub apparently was one of the old cast iron tubs that came over on the ark. Her father and I had the dubious task of trying to get the thing out of the bathroom so as a new one could be installed.

It took us most of the morning and several whacks with the sledge hammer, but we finally managed to break it into two pieces. It was about all we could do to manage to get each half out of the house. I am not sure how we managed it, but we finagled the two halfs out into the back yard where they sat all winter.

This was not exactly prime cast iron, largely rusted and jagged. I had been debating how exactly I was going to get rid of the monsters all winter. But, apparently, God saw fit to send me an ordination present in the form of backyard robbery. I went out the morning of my ordination to show the backyard to the priest who was in from Chicago to preach at my ordination.

I realized that the cast iron tub pieces were gone. Apparently someone had plotted and succeeded in coming into the yard and stealing carrying off the two big pieces. I know they were there earlier in the week because my parents commented on them when we were showing them around the yard. It must have taken at least two guys to do it because those pieces were at least 200 pounds each. I can't imagine what they possibly wanted them for other than scrap metal. They must have been hard up because that old thing was all corroded and they could not have possibly gotten much for it as scrap.

They probably would have made more money if they had come up and knocked on the door to ask if they could take it, as I would have given them money for their trouble.

Comments

Peter Carey said…
that's awesome -- sounds like a modern-day "desert fathers" story!

Peter+

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