Nothing Sketchy: And Then Our Mailbox Made A Run For It

/ Ally Bean

I enjoy a bit of absurdity.

It was late Friday afternoon.  Zen-Den was working from home in a guest bedroom his upstairs office that overlooks the front yard and street.

He was on a conference call, listening, bored presumably, and staring out the window at the street.

There was a gust of wind and just like that our extra large [15″x11.7″x24.8″] black metal [11.5 lbs] mailbox  [identical to this one] went flying off its post– and started scampering down the street.

Like a sneaky pet dog out on an adventure.

Never slowing down, never looking back.

Z-D, still listening to his conference call saw what had happened, found me downstairs, pointed outside, and mouthed the words “mailbox escaped.”

I looked out the window and understood.  I immediately went running out the front door to chase our mailbox, WITH OUR MAIL IN IT, down the street.

On a cold late autumn day.

Without a coat or gloves on.

The little miscreant, pushed by more gusts of wind, slide downhill in the gutter along the side of the street until it was in front of our next-door neighbor’s house where the runaway fell on its side, popping up its little red flag in surrender.

Nice touch, eh?

I was charmed in spite of the situation.

I picked him up, double-checked that our mail was still inside [it was], then started walking home with said sneaky mailbox cuddled in my arms, like you might when you capture a wiggly dog.

However unlike a warm small furry dog, a metal mailbox is cold, cold, cold to carry.  I wasn’t dressed for the elements let alone a search and rescue mission that involved carrying a large mailbox home.

Mailboxes have sharp edges.

Trust me on this.

Anyhoo, laughing at acknowledging the absurdity of this situation, I got the little fellow home, put him in the garage, and walked down the driveway to see what had happened that prompted our mailbox to make a run for it.

Come to find out, the wood on the post that forms the horizontal platform on which the mailbox sits had rotted underneath the mailbox.  The mailbox had been attached with screws to the rotting wood, but the gust of wind was powerful enough to rip them out of place, and sent our mailbox flying.

This was a first for me/us, but one that graciously provided us with the gift of a Saturday project.

Yep, we had to replace the rotting wood on the post then re-attach the mailbox, no worse for the wear btw, to the new sturdy wood plank.

So we did.

~ ~ 📪 ~ ~

The foregoing story reminds me of my favorite TikTok. It stars a dog named Bean. Do dah, do dah!

204 thoughts on “Nothing Sketchy: And Then Our Mailbox Made A Run For It”

  1. Because the mailbox flag is red, I interpret the mailbox popping his flag in warning: “Stay back! I am cold and sharp! I will cut you!” Alas, like so many other women, you ignored the red “male” flag!

    Liked by 5 people

  2. Oh my! LOL. That was some wind. And some story.

    I’ve had to chase down my patio umbrellas a few times, but that seems mundane and not nearly as funny or unlikely as running after one’s mailbox. There’s an airmail joke in there somewhere, but I’m not the one to make it this morning.

    Liked by 3 people

    • nance, I knew it was windy outside, but not THAT windy to cause our mailbox to scurry away. I could understand the humor in the whole thing as it was happening, but wasn’t all that amused by it. Until I sat down to write this.

      We don’t have a patio umbrella but we have neighbors with one that runs free every so often. It’s funny to see them go after it. You’re right about the airmail joke, but I don’t have one either. Yet that’s kind of what happened.

      Liked by 1 person

    • L. Marie, I adore Bean the Greyhound, particularly this video of him. I hadn’t thought about the mailbox’s motive for his actions. You could be right, if Oz happened to be at the end of our street. 😊

      Like

  5. I laughed out loud when reading this bit, “The little miscreant, pushed by more gusts of wind, slide downhill in the gutter along the side of the street until it was in front of our next-door neighbor’s house where the runaway fell on its side, popping up its little red flag in surrender.” 😂😂😂😂

    Great story. It would make a good children’s book me thinks.

    Liked by 2 people

  8. It’s a great story, and I’m filled with admiration for your ability to run it down. As for that rotten wood; it happens. Three weeks ago I’d begun sanding a cap rail on a boat as a first step toward revarnishing. You can imagine my surprise when I pushed right into the wood, and a little pile of dry sawdust gathered on the deck. Yep. An entire stretch of what we thought was solid teak actually was a teak/mahogany sandwich, and the mahogany had rotted. Believe me, I’d have built you a dozen mailbox posts for not having to go through the process that came next for me (and the carpenter, and the owner, who had to keep checking his checkbook as the hours piled up.)

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda, your story is amazing. I cannot imagine a boat with wood so weak that it turned to dust when you sanded it. That’s something you’d see in a Bugs Bunny cartoon. Obviously it was not the right kind of wood for the job. I can only imagine how much it cost to replace/repair it. What a surprise.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Yes . . . but you know how to set the stage:

        There was a gust of wind and just like that our extra large [15″x11.7″x24.8″] black metal [11.5 lbs] mailbox [identical to this one] went flying off its post– and started scampering down the street.

        Like a sneaky pet dog out on an adventure.

        Never slowing down, never looking back.

        Liked by 1 person

  14. Oh Ally, I laughed and laughed, the little red flag sticking up! But whoa nelly, that is one big gust of wind, rotten wood or not. I’m impressed the mail stayed in the box! Now I’m laughing again, thinking about a mailbox making a run for it. FREEEEEEDOMMMMMM

    Liked by 2 people

    • Nicole, I agree, if our mailbox could talk he’d have been yelling: FREEEEEEDOMMMMMM as he went. It was a ridiculous situation all around, but he kept our mail safe which is a tribute to the company who made him.

      Like

    • Thanks, Maggie. I did manage to capture the mailbox, but that which was inside wasn’t worth much. Just junk mail and catalogues, still I prevailed– and I’ll take my successes where I find them. 😉

      Liked by 1 person

  17. This mailbox escape story made me laugh out loud. My first good laugh of the day. Thank you for that. Great job rescuing that little miscreant. I’m going to keep an eye on my mailbox now. You just never know what they might do!

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Ha ha! I feel like this is a children’s book waiting to happen. The mailbox was happy to be doing its mailbox job, but when given a chance at adventure, she absolutely took it, but was happy to see her human come rescue her!

    Liked by 1 person

    • NGS, another commenter mentioned this being the stuff of a children’s book. I like your spin on it. I was the good human who rescued the mailbox, even if I was also the good human who didn’t have the sense to know the wood was rotted underneath the mailbox. 🙄

      Like

  20. Our mailbox incident isn’t nearly as entertaining as yours is. We moved to our new home between two HUGE snowstorms. We were in about 3 or 4 days when a snowplow came through and snapped it off fracturing the entire post. Our gracious mailperson said to duck tape it together until we could get a new one installed and he would put the mail in it. That worked since the broken base was firmed encased in a 3′ snow mound. Our new township sent us $75 (cost us more than twice that to replace and install) since it was their fault. The woman on the phone said “welcome to the community!”

    Liked by 3 people

    • Jean, thanks for the compliment. This story had to be told, but talk about an unexpected series of events. Never would I ever have thought I’d be running down our street chasing our mailbox. 🙄

      Liked by 1 person

    • Zazzy, so many good questions that I cannot answer. Whether our mailbox would have been happier if he’d gotten farther away, who’s to say? I know I’m happier to have captured him when and where I did. Much farther and I’d have been a popsicle.

      Liked by 2 people

  24. The greyhound video is hilarious! I chuckled at the thought of you chasing your escaping mailbox down the street and then carrying the cold, sharp thing safely home without benefit of protective clothing or work gloves.

    It’s amazing what goes on in seemingly quiet neighborhoods. One woman in our area went through her security camera footage to figure out who stole her package of gold hoop earrings that the mailman had left on her porch. Turned out it was an opossum. Her husband searched the woods around their house but couldn’t find what the little thief made off with. 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    • Barbara, Bean the Greyhound is a charmer. I adore him. You’re right about how cold and sharp a mailbox can be. Lesson learned about that.

      I’m laughing out loud at your story about your neighbor woman’s thief. I can imagine that happening around here, although our culprit would probably be a raccoon– or a crew of enterprising squirrels. What a hoot!

      Like

  25. What an adventure, well-told as always! We have the huge security mailboxes so they can’t run away. My mom did hit them once while driving out of my neighborhood. She dinged her car more than the mailbox.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Margaret, your mother’s car was worse for the wear but your mailbox was just fine? I LOVE THAT. I’m sure there’s a moral there of some sort. Thanks for the laugh.

      Like

    • Lies Jack Kerouac told Me, you are so right. Always happy to be a source of conversation among the neighbors. We’ve had wind scatter some of our trash, but only across our yard. I’ve never had to run down the street to retrieve it. But this mailbox had me at a full gallop running after it.

      Liked by 1 person

  28. When I read the title, my first thought was “some hooligans with a baseball bat drove by and took aim”. Glad to hear there was no such vandalism! Today’s misadventure makes for tomorrow’s entertaining blog post – usually, and certainly in this case! Thanks for sharing, Ally.

    Deb

    Liked by 2 people

    • Deb, now that you mention it, we’ve lost one mailbox to kids with a baseball bat who did it in. And we went through a few years when some kids used to throw tomatoes at mailboxes as they drove by. It was a teen thing, I guess. At least this story doesn’t involve vandalism, relying on good ‘ole absurdity.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Holy cow! Were these tornado winds? I can’t imagine an 11 pound mailbox blowing down the road!! Our only mailbox tragedies involve the city snowplow.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Bijoux, no tornadic winds but strong gusting ones able to lift the mailbox off its rotting wood platform. I never would have thought it could happen, until it happened. Another commenter mentioned a snowplow breaking their mailbox post. That seems like something that’s only a matter of time before it happens. 🤨

      Like

  30. Thank goodness that Zen-Den was on a boring conference call and so was looking out the window! The mailbox might have made its escape with your valuable mail! I usually only get junk mail so it would really be no loss if my mailbox blew away! Well done on the mailbox capture!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ellen D, I thought the same thing about Z-D seeing what happened. It isn’t unusual for him to be bored on a conference call, but it was weird that he saw what happened in real time. There was only junk mail and catalogues in the mailbox, but it was the principle of the thing– I wanted that little miscreant captured. So I ran after him.

      Like

  31. LOL @ the mailbox doing a runner down the road. That’s not something that happens every day and it’s a good job your post didn’t end up in someone’s garden. Here we don’t have standalone mail boxes but instead a slot in the door of the house where mail gets pushed through.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Katy, once upon a time we lived in a condo that had a mail slot in our front door. It was civilized and required no traipsing down a driveway to a mailbox to get your mail. I liked that approach, but now mail carriers prefer to drive to a mailbox on a post by the street than to walk to your door. Can’t say that I blame them.

      Like

    • Janis, thank you. I did try to appear dignified as I ran after the mailbox. I don’t know if any neighbors saw me, but Z-D saw me and only snickered a little bit about how I looked carrying it back home.

      Like

  34. At least it was the mailbox and not the garbage! We’ve had our garbage cans blow over a couple of times and had to go and clean that mess up. Not to mention the pesky raccoons who decide they want to find a snack. Great description of your experience.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Janet, good point. Chasing after trash is awful, chasing after a mailbox was… well… unique. We have raccoons around here, too. Ours like to steal bird feeders, thus we no longer put seed out for the birds.

      Liked by 1 person

  41. Ally! I loved this! I know at the time you were not amused…but it IS hilarious and your re-telling was perfect. And as someone further up said it would make a great children’s book/show…reminiscent of The Brave Little Toaster.

    Liked by 2 people

  43. Imagine what you would’ve thought had Zen Den NOT seen the runaway mailbox actually take off for the hills. Would you have suspected a teen prank? Glad you got your mailbox back and your bills, I mean your mail. So funny. Did Zen Den later ask you if you guys were still in Kansas? Holy strong winds. That video is VERY funny. Now that I live with a dog that is not my dog, I appreciate the nonsense they can find themselves in, combined with the facial expressions . . . entertaining. And irritating.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Ernie, I think you’re right that had Z-D not seen the mailbox fly away we would have figured it was kids doing something stupid… like stealing a mailbox. The wind was strong but maybe not quite as strong as what Dorothy faced. Bean the Greyhound is a hoot. I like his nonchalant way of doing things.

      Like

    • Dan, this was one of those situations that you’d never dream could happen, yet it did. So far the mailbox is staying in place and seems content. I’ll update if anything changes with it.

      Liked by 1 person

    • bosssybabe, I’m sure I looked loony as I went after the mailbox, but who cares I got it back. The direction the mailbox went was downhill so it may have gone farther than if it had to be pushed uphill.

      Liked by 1 person

    • Laurie, I’m sure he is a he. If a she wanted to stop doing her job, she’d be subtle and refuse to keep the door closed, thereby allowing herself to be replaced. But a he wouldn’t think it through like that and instead jump at any opportunity to leave his post and move on. [Buying this explanation?]

      Like

  49. That must have been hilarious, although perhaps not right at the moment. And with the mail in it!! That’s quite cheeky and might qualify as mail fraud if you chose to prosecute. But I guess you letter alone. 🙂 (Or is it a him?)

    janet

    Liked by 1 person

  50. I love that Zen-Den knew you’d interpret his sign language and that he trusted you to rush right out and catch the mailbox.
    You may not have been wearing a coat and shoes, but at least you were dressed. Our garbage is collected early in the morning. More than once I’ve chased a rolling empty garbage can and a runaway lid down the street in my bathrobe and slippers. It’s the lid that takes flight too easily. Maybe I should get a heavier garbage can.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Nicki, looking out the window I immediately knew what he meant. The darned thing was on the move, escaping. I’m glad he saw it, even if he couldn’t go get it, being at work as it were.

      I can only imagine you chasing your garbage can and lid whilst wearing your jammies. That’d be a sight. 😁 Occasionally our cans roll and the lids turn into frisbees, but not often. I don’t know if it’s because we have heavy cans or less wind?

      Liked by 1 person

  51. Just as well the remnant of the supporting wooden pole stayed in the ground – in our storm season the most innocent yard objects can turn into flying missiles ready to impale any pedestrian daring to walk the streets. Glad you rescued the rogue runaway.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Kathy, it was a renegade mailbox, I hadn’t thought of that. I can only say that when absurdity strikes, it often finds me. It’s been my fate in life, but one that comes in handy when you write a personal blog!

      Liked by 2 people

  54. That’s just plain ROTTEN. (ur, sorry, couldn’t help myself). I bet your mailbox will love you even more, the way you rescued it, understood it’ red flag “HELP ME” expression, and cuddled to warm it up on the long way back home. 🙂
    Actually, I rescued my mailbox once. A mean speeding driver somehow missed the lines in our little street (with speed limit of 20 mph sign) and smashed right into our wood beam holding up the (painted and decorated box). Fortunately, only the beam needed to be replaced. Unfortunately the speeding car left the scene undetected.

    Liked by 2 people

  55. Oh that’s hilarious Ally – you’ve painted a fabulous visual! 🙂 Postmen in the UK would love the US system of postboxes instead of having to traipse up people’s driveways to push stuff through their letter boxes. Our apartments have a small bank of boxes outside but they’re so tiny they still have to ring to get to our internal front doors to leave anything larger than an envelope. I feel for them.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Deb, once upon a time we lived in a condo complex with mail slots in our doors, but overall it makes sense for the mail employees to drive house to house down a street. It’s safer for them. But it does require that we have large mailboxes that’ll accommodate parcels as well as letters and periodicals. As long as your mailbox is willing to stay put, of course.🙄

      Liked by 1 person

  57. Wow, that’s some serious wind, even with rotten wood underneath! I really like the red flag popping up. Nice touch. Glad you got it back and were able to reattach it.

    Liked by 2 people

  59. Oh my goodness! If I heard this tale about someone else, I would not have believed it!
    That must have been some gale force winds to make your mailbox travel like that! But I am glad you were able to retrieve it …

    Liked by 2 people

  60. This was funny Ally. I picture you walking home, triumphant that you got back that pesky mailbox and scolding it under your breath for its momentary lapse of judgment, succumbing to the wind like that. A couple of weeks ago the Michigan Department of Transportation put a warning out that it was time to check your post mailboxes because the snow plow has no mercy on them and if they’re not secure or if they’re warped, it is not MDOT’s fault if they go airborne!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Linda, you’re right I was scolding the mailbox as we walked home. I mean, what a way to get attention! It’s prudent of MDOT to remind you to check your mailbox posts, but what a thing, eh? Our post is sturdy– and now our mailbox is too, again.

      Liked by 1 person

  63. OMG, this is hysterical! I can just see you running down the street after it. Then trying to get it home without killing yourself. And I have never heard of this happening before. So stinken funny!

    Liked by 2 people

  64. Oh I love this story. Especially that you liken your mailbox to a naughty dog. You gave me the best chuckle!!

    I’m glad everything is back where it belongs and mail is all safely accounted for.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Katie, when I saw the mailbox scooting down the street the image of a runaway dog came to mind. The mail stayed safe inside which astounded me, and the little miscreant is back on his post where he belongs. All is as it should be.

      Liked by 1 person

  66. Box on the run, box on the run
    And the Ally Bean and man Zen Den
    Were searching everyone
    For the box on the run, box on the run
    For the box on the run, box on the run

    Thanks for the laugh!

    Liked by 2 people

  68. Pingback: The week gone by — Dec. 5 – A Silly Place

  69. That is so crazy. Can you imagine if Zen Den didn’t actually witness this? You might have then thought that a neighbor might have stolen your box!

    I’ve seen that Cute Bean before; he’s adorable.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Suz, you’re right about that. If Z-D hadn’t seen the mailbox take a runner, we’d have chalked up a lost mailbox to kids doing a bit of vandalism. Instead it was an innocent thing, but darned weird.

      I ❤️ Bean the Greyhound– and not just because he has a wonderful name.

      Like

  70. This was a unique experience for sure! And that closing tik tok video was super fun!
    Our mailbox was taken down by a snow plow a few years ago – and I caught it on video – happened to be out there and they replaced it for us – 📫

    Liked by 1 person

  71. Way to muster up the spirit to chase the mailbox down and recover the bills you may have not wanted to lose! I’m happy to read that you officially repaired it to the requirements of the neighborhood and did not resort to simply duct taping it or black belting the box back to the rotted board. I’ve seen that down a road I’ve traveled before. That technique definitely doesn’t survive the snowplowing season.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Shelley, after I realized what was happening there was no way I was going to let that mailbox escape. Determined, I was! People duck tape a mailbox to its post? Well, that’s funny, but I’m sure you’re right about snowplowing season. Our little miscreant is back on its post, firmly attached to the new wood plank with screws. 😊

      Liked by 1 person

  72. Pretty sure this post is the first in history to refer to a mailbox as a miscreant – heh. And I fully expected said mailbox to jump out of your arms and scamper away again, once caught. Way to get him back and secured to where he belongs!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dave, ha! Yes our mailbox was, and I suppose still could be again, a miscreant. Such a weird thing to happen all around. I cannot overemphasize how cold that metal box was as I carried it home. 🥶

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    • Neil, this had never ever happened before, so we were surprised [understatement]. Now that the runaway mailbox is firmly attached to its new wood plank all is sturdy again. Still made for a good story.

      Liked by 1 person

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