You be the Judge

On my last post, Anvil Cloud commented: 

"Ludicrous means something is silly enough to cause amusement. Ridiculous means it's absurd enough to invite mockery or derision. Ludicrous has a more playful and amusing sense than ridiculous. You probably already knew these two words can be used to describe something that's nonsensical or silly."

I offer up this story for your consideration.

Yesterday, I bustled around. I had the sloppy joes going in the crock pot. I had looked up a recipe that I was going to use to make the corn pudding and had it saved on my phone. I was cleaning house, vacuuming, and gathering up the debris from wrapping Christmas gifts, putting the kitchen to rights, etc. 

Tim, on the other hand, stayed out of the house. He was pricing some electrical components and he was going to pick up the Christmas gift I had taken him by the hand and led him to, helpfully pointing it out, telling him that he could pick the pattern/color, and explaining the size I needed. 

Anyways, I got all my work done at about the same time Tim returned home. I was going to assemble the corn pudding and pop it in the oven while I did my hair, etc.

When I went to grab my phone, I was unable to find it. Impatiently, I said, "Tim, I've misplaced my phone. Can you call me?" He came into the hall where my irritated self was. He called. My phone began ringing. It was someplace in the hall. I looked all over. I could not find it. 

He said, "Where did you leave it? You called me just a bit before I came home." 

I said, "I was in the livingroom. I was standing right here by the couch." 

We both looked around. 

He said, "I was sitting right there. I didn't see it..."

He called the number again. 

The phone was ringing in the livingroom. 

"For pete's sake. It sounds like it is right here!" I said, But it wasn't. 

When the call went to voicemail once again, he wandered out into the kitchen and called my number. When my phone rang in the kitchen, I followed him. "Let me see your phone!" 

He had his own phone. 

"This doesn't make sense!" I said. He went outside to try calling my number. Inside the house, I heard nothing. Tim said, "My phone is ringing your ringtone."

"How can that even be?" we wondered aloud. 

"Craziest thing!" he said. 

Impatiently, I said, "I haven't got time for this nonsense. I headed to the computer to bring up the recipe I needed. 

I was writing everything down when I heard Tim said, "Look what I found!" 

Preoccupied with the task at hand, I said, "You found my phone?"

"I did, and you'll never believe where it was!"

"Where's that?" I asked, finishing up and turning around in my chair. 

"In my pocket," he answered.

We stared at each other and laughed ourselves stupid. (To be fair, it didn't seem as if it required all that much laughing to reach that point.)

What would you call that: Ludicrous or ridiculous? Cast your votes in the comment section.

It is two days before Christmas. I walked down the street to deliver one last gift and card. One of the stories that we have had the priviledge to be privy to this year, is a young single woman who has overcome a great deal of adversity in her life. She has a quiet life working for a preschool program here in town. She is a good, good soul, quietly determined. We love her.

She came to us with a question early last year. She needed her landlord's permission to apply to take in a foster child. 

She got our permission immediately.

In unbelievably short order, she had a baby girl in her home. 

It has been sweetness to witness that lovely story unfold. We haven't met the child yet, but in a strange twist of fate, we know the other side of the story too. That is a lucky little girl. That young woman has intervened in a very unfortunate set of circumstances. 

I walked down our street in the dark, admiring the Christmas trees in the windows of the houses, thinking of all the tiny happy stories in this huge unhappy world, the small stories that bless anyone who witnesses them. How lucky we are to be on the sidelines of this one. 

I put the small package and the card in her mailbox and I walked back home.