Revenge of the Garden Hose

 One of the things I've never liked to do is coil up the garden hose. We had various aids for this, including the self-retractable hose. I even remember Kathy Lee Gifford exclaiming about its virtues, and demonstrating how neatly it worked. It seems she didn't like that task either. It was miraculous, she said, and so it was. I bought the same hose and it worked its magic, but to dwindling degrees. The first time, swish! The next few times, much slower, and after that, the hose just lay there, lifeless as before. We had the mobile hose cart, so you could roll out the cart and use the handle to roll or unroll the hose wherever was most convenient.  I found this tiresome, attending to the needs of a hose. So we settled on the attachment to the house itself, to neatly store the hose after use. I still avoid rolling up the hose onto its designated resting place. Ugh! So I usually just leave it lying loose, shoving it under the metal ramp. . 

   Last night as I was going to bed, I looked out the front window, part of my nightly routine. I saw that the security light was on. That indicates a presence.  I turned on the outside porch light and could see that no car or human figures were  in  the driveway or at the front of the house. I stood there, thinking. Maybe an animal was on the ramp,  but I waited and the light stayed constant. The wind might be a factor, or  a branch blown down or leaning into the driveway. But that seemed unlikely; all was relatively calm. I wracked what remains of my brain, and finally, that AHA! moment. That afternoon I had been sweeping the top of the ramp and underneath it, trying to rid it of old leaves and other junk. To get the broom under the ramp, I had looped the hose onto the rails of ramp to keep it out of the way of the broom. That heretofore unrecognized object triggered the security light. Lesson learned: I should show more respect and deal with matters  properly.  P.S. Another task I dislike is following the protocol of inserting the plastic refill bag into the kitchen garbage container. I just stick it in there and shove the lid back on, but so far the garbage can has not retaliated.