grounded

About 10 years ago Anniemay opened our old up-and-over garage door on a particularly windy day - and the door lived up to its name; the wind caught it and it flew up and over her head, wrenching itself off the framework in the process.  

I was in hospital at the time and the incident might have had me in stitches, but for her sombre face and the fact that I had plenty of stitches to be going on with.  

We decided to replace it with an electric door on the grounds that it would be safer and more reliable especially if I was no longer able to repair it.

Thursday afternoon we hear a metallic ‘thwang’ reverberating around the house.  We search everywhere and cannot find anything that might have caused this noise.  It’s not until Anniemay tries - and fails - to open the garage door that we begin to put 2 and 2 together.  

There’s a mechanical handle for use in the event of a power failure, but even that won’t shift it.  The door is firmly shut.  It appears that one of the two springs that controls the movement of the door has broken (thwang). Nothing can get in or out.  The car is stuck inside; so too are the bikes.  

We take the garage, or rather, the space it affords, for granted; when not housing the car it becomes an ad-hoc photo studio, bike repair workshop and DIY project area.

We also take for granted the easy access that leaving the house via the garage allows; the front door is actually at the side of the house and as the back door is at the … back … the garage door is first choice for taking out rubbish, bringing in shopping - as well as providing hours of fun for Chris and Dan.  They still, at their age, like to play Indiana Jones by hitting the controller and then running to get under the door before it closes.  (Boys!).

It’ll take a week to get another spring; in the meantime we’re re-acquainting ourselves with the front door.  And Anniemay is on her best behaviour as she fears a lack of car or bike will mean that she’s grounded for the week.