Friday afternoon, Tara and I stopped by our local credit union to open a new account. The receptionist had us take a seat while waiting for an available account representative and asked if she could get us anything, like water or coffee.
“I’d love some French fries,” I replied.
My dear wife didn’t even bat an eye. She might have rolled one, but that was it. And it occurred to me, in that moment, just how well-suited we are for one another. One of the things I love most about Tara is the fact that she appreciates my sense of humor. I can’t say that about anyone else I’ve ever been married to or dated. One woman was so aghast over my drive-through shenanigans, she swore off fast food entirely. Tara, by contrast, always laughs at my jokes. As outlandish and over-the-top as my sense of humor can be, that means the world to me.
The credit union, by the way, did not have French fries. But they did have favorable interest rates and free checking, so I let that slide.
Remember how southern Wisconsin had its snowiest March day in 15 years a couple of weeks ago? That was nothing compared to Saturday, which turned out to be the snowiest March day ever. When we pulled back the living room drapes, we were greeted by the following sight.
A solid foot of heavy, wet snow. We’d been planning a trip to Janesville for shopping, but instead, ended up housebound. We did take a walk around our property, and then through the woods and nearby park, to check out all that snow. It was just a ridiculous amount, and by the way, Madison’s official snowfall total for the season is now 70 inches. Normal is 48 inches, and last year at this time, they had 26 inches. Wisconsin really rolled out the welcome mat for Team MarTar’s first winter, huh?
That walk almost turned into an expensive disaster.
I’d wandered off to take some photos while Tara continued on down the trail. As I was walking back to catch up to her, I reached into my pocket–and discovered my phone was gone.
Insert panicked feeling.
I wasn’t too panicked, though. After all, I’d just taken some pics with it a couple of minutes earlier, and I was able to retrace my footsteps easily enough. So, I backtracked to where I’d stopped to take those photos…
…but there was no sign of my phone.
The snow was so deep, it had swallowed up my phone. Now I was feeling a bit more panicky, so I rendezvoused with Tara, told her what happened, and we set about searching for it. She kept dialing the number, hoping we’d hear it ringing, but 12″ of heavy, wet snow tends to muffle noise apparently. Finally, after several very worrisome minutes in which I envisioned a trip to the Verizon store and a many-hundreds-of-dollars unexpected expense, Tara announced, “I found it!”
Whew.
Sure enough, my phone was buried beneath the snow, but again, I’d left a clear trail. Kicking aside the snow, she was able to find it.
{Insert huge sigh of relief.}
I’d say surely winter is over now, especially since it’s spring, but given the crazy weather we’ve had this month–the past six months, really–I’m not willing to place any money on that bet.
Mark My Words 
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