...or fireworks

The weather around here has been very pleasant the last couple of weeks, ahhh, Springtime. But something happened on Friday.  It was a rainy, cold day.   Kind of a miserable day.  I had some errands in the morning so when I got home I let the dogs outside.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I left them out there.  An hour or so later I had to go pick up Kelsi from school.  I looked outside and couldn't see the dogs. It had just started sprinkling so I assumed they had gone in their dog house.  I thought, "They've been cooped up all day.  I'll be back in 40 minutes, they'll be fine out there."  Well, 40 minutes later when I got back I took the garbage cans from the street to the back of the house.  No dogs came to greet me.  I went in the house and they weren't there either.  I started getting worried. Where on earth would they have gone? I checked for open gates or holes in the fence. There were none.  I went to the front and looked and called. Nothing.  I knew if they had gotten out they could have been gone up to 2 hours.  They could be anywhere.  By this time it was raining pretty hard.  Brady and Afton got on their bikes and I went out in the van.  We went all around and couldn't find them.  Chase and Macy  have microchips but no collars, I started thinking about someone picking up those poor, wet dogs and not knowing where they belonged.  I called neighbors, who hadn't seen them. I called Brad, but really, what could he do? I considered making "LOST DOG" flyers (how would the papers stay dry in this weather?) I got to a higher vantage point to look around and started realizing that even if they were within view (not likely) their coats would make it difficult to see them, they would be camouflaged. 

 

I knew our next door neighbor would have called if she would have seen them out, but I decide to go knock on their door anyway.  As I was standing there I turned around and saw Chase coming out of the weeds in the field across the street from our house.  But, no Macy!  This gave me hope that no one had picked them up, but it was bad news because Macy is very timid and young and, most likely, not able to get back home on her own.  I took Chase back out into the field hoping she was out there somewhere.  The weeds were knee high in some places and I knew if she was laying down, there was no way I'd see her even if I was close to her.  I was relying on Chase to show me where she was.  It soon became apparent he was more interested in rousting birds out of the weeds.  I think he did want to find Macy, he perked up whenever I said her name, but he really didn't know where she was.  I got the kids out on their bikes again (thank heaven's for cell phones) and we canvased the neighborhood (again).  We were all drenched, cold and miserable.  I was just glad we still had light.  Probably a 1/2 hour later I got a call from Kelsi saying she found Macy outside of our neighborhood, on her way toward the highway, in a field, but she wouldn't come, she just cowered and looked confused.  As I stood there wondering what to do (Because I was on foot I was 15 minutes away from where Kelsi was, and 15 minutes away from home where I could get the van)  Just then I looked up, and Brad was driving in.  I immediately sent him to go retrieve Macy (and Kelsi).  A few minutes later he came driving down the street with a drenched, pathetic, cold, scared, and very sad Macy.  It was so pathetic, poor baby.  We got the dogs home. Dried them off, got them inside, warmed them up, and helped them feel comfortable. But not before we took pictures. Brad say's he wishes he took a picture of Macy and Kelsi when he got to them. There they were crouched down in the field. Kelsi hugging a wet Macy, Macy whimpering, and the rain just pelting down on them.

Just as a side note, to get to where Macy was, Kelsi had to go down the biggest hill in our neighborhood, knowing she would have to come back up it later. She almost didn't go. Then she said she just had a feeling she should go at least look.  Later she told us that the night before she had prayed that she would be able to recognize the promptings of the spirit better.  And then this. What a good girl.

We were glad to have those puppies back.  Chase's paws were bleeding and he was walking crazy.  But we decided he just needed to rest and was good enough that we could go to Chevy's to celebrate finding our babies.  The balloon man also made us 2 balloon dogs while we were there, in honor of our victory.  It was fun but when we got home we realized the trouble wasn't over. Chase had puked-up more than I knew his stomach could hold.  He was shaking and seemed very, very sick.  I was afraid we were going to have to take him to the emergency vet (the only time our pets ever get sick is after hours)  As he laid on his pillow I saw a strange look come into his eyes and then without much more warning he spewed all over the carpet that had been cleaned less than a week earlier.  Brad, the trooper, pulled out the carpet cleaner and got to work.  Chase threw-up a couple more times outside (yes, still raining) and in his kennel overnight.  The next morning he seemed a little bit better, I gave him rice to eat knowing it was easier to digest.  He seemed to hold it down just fine.  By evening he seemed almost back to normal.  He and Macy had been out back visiting the neighbor dogs through the fence, Brad went outside and soon realized that there had been a skunk in the area and that at the very least the dogs had walked through the stink. Good heavens... what these dogs don't put us through.  

Now that I've convinced all of you fence sitting potential dog owners why you shouldn't get a dog, let me just say that I can't imagine not having either one of those critters here messing up our yard, our house and our routines.  They are the CUTEST and SWEETEST!

Also, I know you've been wait patiently to hear why this post is called "...or fireworks".  Well, your patience shall be rewarded.  While we were driving to Chevy's we were, of course, discussing the lost dog incident.  We were talking about Macy and how nervous she is.  Brad made the musing, "I wonder what Macy would ever do if there was thunder and lightening?" We all smiled and nodded as we lapsed in to a silence, pondering the concept.  Then I said, "or fireworks"  Kelsi and Brady echoed this sentiment by wistfully repeating my exact words with my exact tone, "... or firworks".  Someone pointed out the echo and we started laughing about it. This turned into a 10 minute interchange of us repeating some version of  "...or firworks."  It's only been a couple of days but the phrase has been brought up several times already.  So if you ever hear the Meyer family saying, "...or firworks" you'll know what we're talking about.  I would recommend that you just nod and smile and quietly repeat, "...or fireworks", and just leave it at that.