Today
was another glorious August day, especially at the farm where it was cloudy and
cool in the early hours. I was going to bake orange loaf for the P.E.O. summer
coffee, but when I realized that Mike had things to do in town and nothing much
to do at the farm I suggested we pack and leave.
Remember,
we’re participating in the August geocaching “get-one-every-day” challenge, so on
the way to town we stopped at the “Ant and Yellowjacket” geological formation and historical marker located where Highway 12 intersects with Highway 95. This cache is hidden in
rocks on the levee, and we’ve looked before without success, but because of a new hint Mike
thought we could find it. He let the dogs out and the four of us moved to the
cache site and then the dogs explored beyond. Meanwhile we found the cache, but the dogs were only gone a minute – honest!
Then
I felt it. Nellie was gently nudging my knee with her snout. In the field, I am
not Nellie’s person of choice, but she knows that I am more apt to intuit her messages than
Mike. I call it the German Shorthair mind-meld, first practiced by Nellie’s
predecessor, Nobie, who would stand at the sliding door and stare until I
noticed her.
So
anyway, because Nellie was tapping me, I knew she was trying to tell me something she thought was important, and since Bess
wasn’t with her and was nowhere to be seen, I concluded that Bess had wandered off
on her own. I was concerned and said so to Mike.
“She’ll
come when I call her,” he said.
I
explained that Nellie wanted us to know that something had happened and immediate
action was in order.
I
began walking along the levee in the direction towards which the dogs had gone.
Before long I saw a campsite below and a woman (later joined by a man) moving my
direction, occasionally beckoning behind her. Yes, here came Bess – prancing
along with her ears bouncing up and down. The woman and I communicated enough
to establish that Bess was our dog. The woman pointed Bess to the trail and I
called her and soon she re-joined us on the levee. We said our “thank you’s”
and “good-byes” to the couple below.
Oh, so glad she found an honest couple who didn't try to dognap her! I had a pretty gumptionless day here myself. Oh wait--I did do some mending and sewed a button back on a shirt of days. Whew! The day is redeemed!
ReplyDeleteThat's for sure! Bess is extremely nap-able.
ReplyDeleteNellie is a good good good good dog!
It was good to know that Nellie felt some responsibility for Bess. But then, thinking back over the years, she found Duke for us once and also warned me when he had gone the wrong way on our walk.
ReplyDeleteMending -- that takes gumption all right. Good for you, Chris!
Great choice of fabric and colors for Mike. He's always been a Halloween kind of guy. Get him to re-tell some of his childhood experiences that involve church chimes, Elvis, pumpkins, and fireworks. I would, but I'm sworn to secrecy.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard!
ReplyDeleteMike still loves Halloween colors and themes. His Triumph is orange and black and one of his helmets has a skeleton outline, I think.
And yes, I've heard those Halloween tales. He once complained to his mother that he didn't understand our sons' teen-age antics. He was never like that, he said. She reminded him of a few of his escapades, finishing with, "Boy -- you were a trial!"