The Garden Hose

Blame it on the squirrels...

Ron got his supplies all ready before bringing out the hose to wash this car on Saturday afternoon. Bucket, soap, drying rags, brushes for interior and exterior, and window cleaner. Now all he needed was water.

This was the first time he would use his new 50-foot garden hose. The previous one had sprung so many leaks he was thinking about using it as a trickle system for his small garden.

He searched the garage for the hose but it was gone. Nowhere to be found.

“Could it have been used already?” he thought.

Sure enough, there connected to the house spigot was the once shiny, recently new hose.

“Seth!” Ron called.

A minute later, his 15-year-old was outside.

“Yeah, what’s up, Dad?”

“Did you use this to water the lawn recently?”

“Sure did. Did you bring me out here to thank me for doing that on my own? I’m right in the middle of a game.”

“Pity. Thanks for watering, but there’s a problem.”

Seth looked down at the hose. Not only was it not brand new and dirty from the recent rain they had, but it was tangled in at least thirteen different ways.

“Yeah, I noticed that too. The squirrels, Dad. I didn’t see ‘em but I certainly heard ‘em the last few nights outside my bedroom window. They were just playing with this hose. I don’t know whether they were skipping rope with it, playing cops and robbers and tying up the bad guys, or what. They were pretty rowdy. Probably violent too. They sure did a number on that hose. You’ve got a mess on your hands, Dad. Need help untangling it?”

“Would you, Son? Would you do that for me, Seth?”

“Oh sure, Dad. You know me. Always willing to lend a helping hand, but you know we really should do something about those squirrels. Next thing you know they’ll be in my bedroom when I’m not there rummaging through my stuff and wreaking havoc.”

“Well, I’ll let your mother sort that one out. Here, grab the other end and help me untangle this thing, will ya?”

“Sure. Oh, and Dad,” Seth said.

“Yeah?”

“It’s a true story about those critters.”

“Oh, I believe you. Your mother, on the other hand, won’t be so understanding when you concoct that story about your room when the time comes.”

“In other words, be a little more proactive and less creative.”

“Yeah, something like that.”