Wheel in the field
Brian Wilson
You learn a lot about human nature when you are sitting on the side of the road contemplating the circumstances that led to the tire that should be on your car sitting in a farmer’s field.
You see the people whizzing past, caught up in their own lives and their own worries, unaware of the disabled vehicle other than being an obstacle to navigate around.
Then there are the others who pass by, and then stop and turn around to offer their help. People like the young man, who pointed out where he had to be pulled from the ditch earlier that week and wanted to make sure I was OK in the cold.
There are the people who stopped and offered to search their car for a needed tool and others like Duane Jenson of Gilman who trudged out unasked into the field and retrieved the tire as I was talking on the phone with my wife and his wife Patti who came back a little while later just to check if I was still OK and had someone on the way.
I suppose I should start at the beginning. I got up on Saturday morning and headed to the Medford Curling Club to help get the last School of Rocks youth curling camp underway. Once we had gotten everything situated with the youngsters doing skill development drills under the direction of my son and wife, I headed out to get some pictures at the annual Miller Dam Ice Fishing Contest.
The trip out was uneventful despite the rural roads having some slippery stretches. I got my pictures, grabbed lunch, and chatted with organizers about how this year’s event was going, before heading home to warm up. I started heading back the way I came, and had gotten only a few hundred feet down CTH G before changing my mind and deciding to go over to Hwy 73 and down to Hwy 64 to come back to Medford.
This proved to be a very good thing. I was driving along and got about a half mile north of where Hwy 64 turns west into Gilman — at just about the point where you get cellular phone service again.
The first thing I noticed was a thunk and the feeling of dropping down to ground level.
Time seemed to slow down a bit. I initially thought my tire had blown out. This was proved false as I saw the tire that should have been on my driver’s side front wheel, roll into the northbound lane (which was thankfully empty at the time).
I reacted, coming to the stop and somehow steering my car to the side of the road. There was a nice groove melted into the ice patch on the road and steam coming from the wheel that no longer had a tire. It was also missing two of the studs where the lug nuts attach.
I called my wife, Kim, to tell her what had happened and to let her know I was OK and that I would be longer than expected. She was still at the Curling Club.
By some fantastic stroke of luck, Medford Motors owner Dave “Beaner” Lemke had stopped down at the club to work on the draw schedule for the upcoming Running Tree Maple Syrup Bonspiel. Kim put him on and while we suspected I would need a tow, he immediately offered to come out with some extra lug nuts and tools and see if we could get the tire back on and limp it back into town, or at least give me a ride back. If there was any question before, I know exactly where my family is buying their next vehicle.
About a half hour later, Beaner arrived and after some time spent laying on the cold highway searching for a good place to put the jack, he managed to wrestle the tire back onto the car and attached new lug nuts to the remaining bolts and followed me back into town to make sure I got there OK. We made it as far as the intersection with CTH T before pulling over and making the call to get it towed the rest of the way since another bolt had sheared off.
As I think about the many ways that things could have gone from bad to worse, I remind myself how blessed I am to live in a place where people will go out of their way to lend a hand.
It reminds me why I wouldn’t want to live anyplace else.
Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.
