The tree and the ditch

This morning I got out of bed 10 minutes early for some unknown reason. I get in my car and head toward work in the dark. About 3 miles from my house I round this corner and there are a couple of trees in the road, spanning all but about 3 feet of the road. I'm going about 60 and the roads are wet from the rain last night. Even though my car has anti-lock brakes, there's not enough time to safely apply them. I head for the 3-foot gap and make it, unfortunately my left rear wheel slipped off the road and started the car spinning in a clockwise direction on the other side of the tree. I spin about 3/4 of a circle on the road, about 1/2 more off the road in the right-side ditch about 100 feet past the tree, all the while praying for safety. The car comes to a rest almost 90 degrees to the normal direction of travel. I get out and inspect my rare Thunderbird SC 5-speed for damage. In the dark, it appears that the damage is minimal. I start walking back towards my house because I don't have a cell phone. When I get about 100 yards from the tree, I see headlights of vehicle appear over a hill. I wave my hands frantically trying to warn the driver about the tree. They slow down, but drive right past me. When they see the tree, the vehicle stops and reverses to where I was standing. They man in the truck asks me if I hit the tree. I told him that I made it past and was in the ditch. He says he has a winch and was wondering if it would do me any good. I tell him that it would be great. I get in the truck and he is listening to gospel music. We drive to the car and I spend a few minutes on the wet, muddy ground searching for a place to hook the winch cable. Then I get in the car and the winch has no problem pulling me back on the road. I inspect the damage again...my right front fender is squashed a bit and could be fixed, but I'll probably just replace it. I thank the man and introduce myself. I won't post his name to honor his privacy. I ask if I can pay him and he tells me that if I call the sheriff and report the tree being down, that would be payment enough. I thank him once again and get in my car and drive off. On the way, I stop at a country store and ask the attendant to call the sheriff for me and he agrees. The rest of the drive was fine and I even got to work on time. I give to God all the praise and the glory!