Saturday evening the nearby resort town had its annual Christmas parade. The paper said that usually 25,000 people go there to see it. In the winter there are two roads into that town and one goes past my gate. I went to the post office to get the mail and couldn't believe all the traffic on the highway.

I decided to shut the gate and when I got out, accidentally locked the truck with the keys in the ignition and the motor running; that always gives an added element of suspense to these situations.

The extra key was in the cup holder inside the truck because I had gotten it out a couple days before and hadn't put it back in its place.

For years I have seen another extra key around the house so I hiked down, just hoping that it was where I thought it was or maybe in a couple of other places. But no such luck. I couldn't find it anywhere. So I called Tow Truck Bob ($80) to unlock it and went back to the gate to wait for him.

For entertainment I watched all the traffic headed for the Christmas parade. It's interesting to see a slow driver white knuckling around the curves in the mountain roads, riding the brakes with 20 or 30 cars trailing behind. Once in awhile you'll notice a big string of cars about mid way, and wonder who is leading. Actually, it's a lot more interesting when you're standing watching them go by than following along in the string.

Finally Bob and Mrs. Tow Truck showed up and he used a specially designed wire to push the lock open. They pry open the door at the top and reach in there with the wire.

Next time I come across that third key in the house, I'm going to pay more attention to where I put it.