The phone rang: could I….

I had to drop something off for my daughter. It was dark and raining. I couldn’t see to adjust the mirrors, so I put the front passenger window down halfway to get a better view of that one.

The window would not go back up.

I tried the others (this may have been stupid) and they were fine. I turned the car off and on again. Reboot? Didn’t work. I debated going back inside and asking for help/advice/commiseration, but there was a tight time frame involved and I just had to go so I did.

I stepped in the door at home a little later and told him the problem as I gathered up plastic wrap and tape: at least the rain had mostly let up while I was out there with that down, let’s at least keep the water out, or more of it, anyway.

Did you…? he offered helpfully.

Three times.

Did you try it from the passenger side?

Twice.

It might be the battery…?

But if the battery were going then it wouldn’t have turned back on so easily and the other electrical things would have had a problem, wouldn’t they?

Say a prayer? Other than that we’ll just have to take it to the dealer next week. But try turning the car on again.

I had and I had (not the dealer part) but I did and I did, and this time I tried all the buttons on the door because hey, why not: the lock button, the auto button (thank goodness the driver’s window still went straight back up) while sending up yet another prayer, because heck, *I* didn’t know what to do. The rain of course was picking up again.

And suddenly that passenger window moseyed on up all casual-like like it had never been a problem. I just kind of sat there and stared at it a moment. I was not expecting that.

I ain’t touchin’ it. Neither is he. I think I’ll go put tape across the buttons to remind us. Up it stays.

——

And then I came inside and played yarn chicken on the last third of a hat, knowing I had a bit left from a previous hat as a back-up, knowing that splicing tightly-knit chunky yarn wouldn’t look great, but trying the thing on again and again as I went and knowing it needed that last plain row after a decrease row before going straight to decreases in all rows no matter how short that strand was getting, knowing the skein had only had 93 yards to begin with and I’d used a few on a previous project…

Somehow I made it. With a yard to spare, which is far more than I thought possible. And the hat is long enough. (I’d have done one more plain row after the k3 k2tog row if I’d known, but this will definitely do.)

I have no earthly explanation really for that either. Oh and did I mention my dad spent the night being checked out in the cardiac unit at the hospital? They sent him home yesterday and he’s peachy fine. One funeral of a father at a time is enough, thanks.

Sometimes, at the end of the day, all you can do is sit down and finish that hat. Something you can mend the splicing effects of if you need to. Something you can rip out and do over in baby size if you have to. Something you can make do what you want one way or another even if you have to change what you want out of it to get it.

And I didn’t even have to do that.